August Sketch Challenge

It's time for the August Sketch Challenge! I hope that it inspires you to create a wonderful project.

Remember, that in honor of Bombshell's Fifth Birthday, we're letting you use any stamp you own with our challenges this month! However, if you use a Bombshell stamp (or two), you'll get an additional chance to win a free Bombshell set of your choice!

Here's August's sketch!

The rules are easy:
• Flip it, flop it, follow it exactly. Just add your special flair.
• Share your blog post, containing your take on the sketch using the Inlinkz below!
• For another chance to win the fabulous prize, post your take on Bombshell's forum!
• The deadline is July 31st!

Here are the Bombshell Girls' and Pin-ups' takes on the sketch!

Alaine used Growing Hearts to create this red / white and black card

Kelli using MiAmore and Banner Sayings

Alison using Girl's Ruin

Rachael using Koi Tattoo and Banner Sayings

Susie using Homeward Bound

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Meet Ms. August!

Jodi Elam is Bombshell's Ms. August. Jodi's fabulous projects showcase her wonderful coloring skills and wonderful style!

Let's learn more about her through this little interview!

1. Brief info about yourself, including your name, where you live, your family (if you want), etc.
My name is Jodi Elam, I live in Brookville, Ohio in the USA. I have a fab hubby and fab creative daughter. I teach and work at Scrap 'N Friends (the local scrapbook store) and do freelance work from home.

2. How long have you been stamping and/or crafting?
I've been doing art forever, I didn't get into scrapbooking until about eight or nine years ago (I thought it would be a fun inexpensive way to show off my photography skillz! ha ha ha ha Isn't that funny?) I'd say I'm more of a scrapbooker, but since I discovered Copic markers, got certified, and now teach how to use them, I've been a bit more into the whole card making scene.

3. What are your favorite Bombshell sets and why?
I LOVE the Pin-Up collection. I've always loved pin-up art and I've become a little addicted to tattoos keeping in mind I don't have any. I'm wouldn't be able to make up my mind what to get that I would like to look at for like ever. At any rate, I really like the retro look of all the Bombshells and I think they would go along nicely with some of my favorite Tim Holtz techniques.

4. What kind of projects do you like to do?
I like creating anything I can color with my Copics!

5. What are your favorite coloring mediums?
See question 4.

6. Describe your crafting "style".
Hmm, describe my crafting style. Messy? Just kidding although I do like to make a mess. I don't get too terribly fancy, I like clean more simple designs.

7. Describe your crafting process. Do you start with a stamp set? A sketch? A technique you want to use?
Now that all depends. If I see a stamp I really like, I"ll work around it. I do like working with sketches as well. I feel like I have a bit more fun with those cause I don't have to work so hard. Ten of course there's times that I've seen a really cool technique (usually something Tim Holtz has done) and work around that. I guess you could say I'm a schizophrenic crafter.

8. Do you have any other hobbies?
I enjoy photography, music, really any kind of art.

9. Free for all including little facts, etc. about you.
• I love soccer and hockey.
• I have a stack of cards I've made for various projects - I've not given any away (well, except one). I guess I'm saving then for a rainy day.

Now that you've learned more about Jodi, here are her three favorite Bombshell projects.

You've feasted your eyes on her projects and I know you'll want to see more, so here are links to her blog and her Bombshell Gallery!

Teeny Weeny Bombshells

Hi everyone- GlitteryKatie here!!
I recently had a play with shrink plastic and made a Bombshell charm. Well this got me thinking and I thought it would be fun to play with scale becuase I LOVE miniatures.

I thought it would be fun to have a mini mermaid in a bottle;

I also added some koi so the mermaid wouldn't be lonely;

You will need:

Stamps

Staz-On Ink

Shrink plastic

Colouring pens or pencils that will work on a smooth surface

A small jar such as a spice jar, cleaned and dried

Some tiny gravel, sand or glitter

Fabric for a lid and some fibres to embellish

Clear glue

Glue mix (50% white glue + 50% water)

  

Prepare your jar

Do this stage first ahead of time as it takes a little time:

Sprinkle a little gravel or sand or glitter into the bottom of your jar and then drip some glue mix (50% white glue + 50%water) onto it and allow to dry.

Build the gravel layer up slowly allowing to dry between layers-the white glue will dry clear but because of the water it will soak into the gravel and bind it together nicely.

When you have a layer depth you are happy with you are ready to move on, although I added a sprinkling of glitter on the top of my last layer of gravel..well I AM GlitteryKatie!

Prepare your shrinky dink

Stamp your image onto the shrink plastic with Staz-On ink. Carefully colour in your stamped image.

Cut around the stamped image leaving a little edge.

Using your heat gun shrink the images and allow to coo.

Attaching your shrinky dinks.

I used two methods for attaching my shrinky dinks:

Firstly I used a lovely big blob of Glassy Accents (clear glue) on the surface of the gravel and carefully lower the mermaid shrinky dink into the blob of glue. 

I wedged the mermaid in place until the glue was dry.

Secondly I attached a wire through a little hole in the koi shrinky dinks to give the illusion of them swimming in the jar.

~Again I put a blob of Glossy Accents onto the gravel then pushed the wire into the glue. 

I wedged the koi in place until the glue was dry.

You can see the wire attaching the koi to the gravel here:

Embellishing the jar.
I added a few teeny pieces of moss to the jar, gluing them in place with Glossy Accents again to make little pieces of seaweed.

~I used a piece of fabric glued onto the top of the jar as a lid. I tied a few pretty fibres around the fabric and added a label.

~I added a piece of paper, aged with Distress inks and printed with a 'Mermaid' label around the base of the jar.

~So there you go that's how to make a miniature mermaid in a jar!
I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and maybe you have some cool Bombshell projects that you've made with Shrink Plastic!

See you again soon!
Happy Crafting!
GlitteryKatie xxx

August Hump Day Hop Theme Reveal

Happy August, Bombshell Stamps Fans! Alison here, and I am going to give you the scoop on the August Hump Day Hop theme. This month's theme is "Let's Hear it for the Boys." You can interpret that as you like, but I can assure you that you will be singing that oh-so-popular 80's song from Deniece Williams for the next week. You're welcome.

This hop will be on Wednesday, August 29th (always the last Wednesday of the month). You can sign up for the hop in THIS thread, over in the Bombshell forum. You will have until Monday, August 27th to sign up. All of the other deets will be in the thread mentioned above.

Did you know that August marks the 5th Anniversary for Bombshell Stamps??? How rad is that?! So, in honor of this very special celebration. We want this hop to be big...REALLY big. So tell everyone you know to join us. We want to shout from the rooftops how much we love Bombshell Stamps! So please, join us! Have a fabulous day!

Guest Design Team Call!

It's time to select the next six Bombshell Pin-ups (Guest Design Team members)!

Each Pin-up receives a free set of stamps, a generous discount to Bombshell's store, will be featured on Bombshell Stamps' website and blog, sets our monthly challenge, and shares four (4) items (cards, scrap layouts, altered art) during her month.

If the Pin-up rocks her guest design gig, she's asked to join the Bombshell Girls (our Design Team).

Please send an email containing the following information to: designteam@bombshellstamps.com

1. Name:

2. Address:

3. Email:

4. Phone number:

5. Blog or website address:

6. Links to any online galleries you may have:

7. Related forums/message boards that you like to visit and participate (we do NOT need your forum nickname):

8. Three (3) items, cards, or layouts using stamps as the main focus. Your submissions don't need to be brand new and do not need to have Bombshell Stamps used, but should not have been published or submitted for publication for a printed or online magazine. However, if you do have Bombshell Stamps, please use them!

9. Please note if you are a current or past design team member for any other companies. (We do not expect you to work solely for us).

10. Please tell us a few words about what you like about stamping and why you'd like to become a Bombshell Stamps design team member.

All submissions must be received by 12:00am PDT on September 14, 2012. New design team members will be contacted by September 20, 2012.

Shrinky Dinky!

I've always found using shrink plastic a little difficult- I think the first shrink plastic I had may not have been the best quality as the ink had a habit of sliding off-very frustrating!
Anyhow I decided to give it another go when Susie challenged us to create jewellery with our Bombshells and tried some CLEAR shrink plastic this time!

~I stamped the feisty looking little cat from the Classic Tattoo set with black Staz-On ink and coloured on the back of the image with copic pens.
~I trimmed around the image and remembered to punch a hole to attach my charm to my planned brooch.
~Shrinking the image is a nerve wracking time- watching that little piece of plastic whip and writhe around is very odd- especially when it looks like it's going to get stuck on itself!
I persevered with the heating and he straightened up and I flattened him with my acrylic stamp block; we both survived and Lucky Cat turned out to be a really cute little charm!

~I added a jump ring to the cat and attached it to a Tim Holtz Swivel Clip: I love the swivel clips for jewelery they are grungy and make great brooches, bracelets (two together) zipper tags, or keyrings!

 For my other charms I stacked a couple of Tim Holtz gears up with a Game Spinner and added a brad to hold them together; used a Halloween token; a small bottle with some glitter and a little label and finally I threaded some beads onto a wire and added those for some bling!

Here is the finished brooch;

I actually loved the shrinking of the Lucky Cat he looks so cute this size and I have some more ideas for shrinky dinks from making this project!
So that's it from me for now!
Happy Crafting!
GlitteryKatie xxx

July Hump Day Hop! Iconic

Greeting! Alison here. Can you believe it's the last Wednesday of the month? Well, it is, so that means it's time for the July Bombshell Stamps Hump Day Hop! This month's theme is "Iconic." I asked everyone to break out those teeny, fabulous little icon stamps that come in all of the Bombshell Stamps sets. I allowed everyone to use 1 large image (if any!), but I really wanted the focus to be on those little icons.
So? Are you ready to hop? I know I am! So let's get to it! Here is the full list of hoppers.

Bombshell Blog: http://bombshellstamps.blogspot.com/

Alison: http://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/

Laura: http://craftylittlewoman.blogspot.com/

Torrey: http://left-field-studio.blogspot.com/

Sparkly Engineer Mary: http://sparkly-train.blogspot.com/

Stempelientje: http://stempelientje.blogspot.com

Glittery Katie: http://ferrishyn-frontier.blogspot.com

Kelli: http://www.cajunstampingqueen.blogspot.com

Jodi: http://www.elamdesign33.blogspot.com/ 

Alaine: http://missalaineousmosaics.blogspot.com/

Kim: http://www.craftypinkanchor.blogspot.com

Kathi: http://kathstales.blogspot.com

You have 11 more stops to go, and I know that you are going to enjoy every single one of them. Until next month...happy hopping!

Friday Tutorial: Bombshell Bracelets

Hi Bombshell Friends!  Happy Friday!!

Emily here! I hope you were able to participate in the "Bring the Heat" Hop sponsored by our friends at the Smeared & Smudged community.!

I know there is another tutorial on here made by the fabulous Alison! Her tutorial inspired me to do my own. So I guess you can call this Wooden Bracelet Part 2 :) For the original you can follow this link-->HERE<--

I am currently addicted to altering these wooden bracelets. They are quite fun, even for someone like me who doesnt wear jewelery!

You will need:
-Wooden Bangle/Bracelet
-Stazon
-White tissue paper
-Permanent markers (I used Prismacolor marker, and Bic Mark its.)
-Stamp of your choosing
-Mod Podge
-Foam Paint Brushes
-Distress inks, and Stickles optional.

First I stamped all my images on tissue paper. Colored all images I liked, that needed color. I stamp a ton of the little images, because sometimes the icons are fun for filling up "empty space".

 

Once colored to my liking... I Mod Podge my bracelet to give me a sticky base to lay my images on. Once its not SUPER gooey, I cut out my images and lay them nicely on the bracelet and try not to get any wrinkles, or air bubbles.

Once they are set to my liking, I do brush over with Distress inks, and stickles if wanted. Then!!! Another layer of Mod Podge. I usually find that a soda can, is the best "holder" to let it dry! I usually wait some time to air dry then its ready to wear!!

 The Bracelet on the bottom Left was following Alison's tutorial.

Hope you enjoy!

Much Love,
Em

"Bring the Heat" Blog Hop with Smeared & Smudged!

Welcome to the "Bring the Heat" Blog Hop! You should have gotten here from Lisa's Blog!

We're thrilled to be participating in the "Bring the Heat" Hop sponsored by our friends at the Smeared & Smudged community.

If you are unfamiliar with Smeared & Smudged, here's how they describe their community!

Smeared and Smudged is an online community of rubber stampers and crafters who enjoy using alternative, gothic, edgy, and unique stamps in their designs. We thrive on different and unusual. We welcome the macabre and devious side of things, and most of all, we embrace ALL types and styles of art. Whether or not you “come to the dark side”, your creations should be a reflection of you. Here at Smeared and Smudged, the most important thing is being yourself.

The theme for this hop is "Bring the Heat" and here's Smeared & Smudged's blurb about it!

The theme is BRING THE HEAT! This is totally up to interpretation....some ideas would be using heat embossing, hot glue or fire. Or even using imagery of fire, heat, or even something SEXY! Step outside your comfort zones - the HOTTER the better!!! It can be a canvas, a card, a scrapbook page, an altered item, an art journal page, etc. Use your imaginations. Also, don't forget the S&S rule that is has to be stamped somewhere (digi stamps are fine)

Here are the projects from the Bombshell Girls and Pin-ups!

Kathi's card using the devil from the Cherry Bomb set by Bombshell Stamps!

Alison used Harley Bikes, Cherry Bomb, Homeward Bound and Hula Girl, all from Bombshell Stamps

GlitteryKatie used Wild Horses Bombshell Stamp, Girl's Ruin Stamp set,Tattoo Background set.

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Your next stop on the hop should be Wendy's Blog!

If you get lost, here's the complete roster!

Blog Roll:

Tori

Black Dragon

Windy

Jane

Shell

Susan S.

Madelein Bouquet

Lady Brayton

Kristy

Glittery Katie

Alison

Lisa

Bombshell Stamps Blog

Wendy

Kathi

Dianne

July 2012 Pin-Up Challenge ~ Bombshell Bling.

Hello everyone, It's Susie here with your challenge for July!

I sometimes find myself a little bored with cards so look for other ways of using my stash, so I recently tried jewellery. 

So your challenge for this month is to make a piece of jeweller using your bombshell stamps and die cut papers. you may also use ribbon, gems, sparkles and findings but NO altered pre-made jewellery items.

I have made a brooch using the fan from the "Lucky Bride" set

and matching earrings too!

Rachael using the three sugar skulls from the Sugar Skulls set.

Alaine used the Icon from Butterfly Queen and bottlecaps to make an earring and pendant set.

GlitteryKatie used Classic Tattoo

..and a pin using Butterfly Dreams

Kathi used the cat from the Classic Tattoo set to make a 1.5" square glass pin.

and also used the Sugar Skulls set, a Vintaj finding, and Glossy Accents to make a necklace.

Kim (Ms. June) using Love and Luck & Classic Tattoo

Alison using Mi Amore

Torrey using A Pirate's Life

So now it's YOUR turn!

Show us your innovative, cool and blingy jewellery ideas with your Bombshells!