Hang in There

I just love these Changitos! My 5 year old had no sooner asked if he could have a tree swing when I walked into Michaels Arts & Crafts and this cutie was begging me to take him home.

The image and sentiment are stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Neenah Ultra Smooth Solar Crest White 80lb cardstock and colored with Copic markers. Whew, that's a mouthful. We were having a discussion about Copics and paper recently and I don't know if I ever mentioned exactly what I use...but to date it's my favorite combo. Okay, with that out of the way...

The cardstock and ribbon are from PTI in Dark Chocolate and Ripe Avocado and paired with patterned paper from Basic Grey's Archaic line.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy Monday!

Winter fun

TGIF!

I bought this stamp from Stampendous ages ago...long before there was any trace of cold at least, but I never inked him up, not even for Christmas! I have decided therefore that it is completely necessary to make several "winter" cards. This image is Pixel and Pookie...aren't they sweet? I used Papertrey Ink cardstock in Aqua Mist for the base and the dp is from KI and cut into strips and attached to the base. Of course the image is colored with Copics...I need to change up my mediums a bit before I get too rusty to use anything else! The sentiment is from a Studio G clear set from Michaels and it and the mat were cut using SU! oval punches. The cardstock behind the image is Bazzill and the ribbon is from Michaels. I had orginally gone over parts of the image with a Sakura Star Dust pen but it needed more sparkle. I then used Judikins Diamond Glaze and some chunky clear glitter (looks like sugar crystals) for the skate trail and to dot the background like falling snowflakes. I even added it to the Martha Stewart punched out snowflake. I am not done using those snowflake punches yet...I love them, sigh...


Here (maybe) you can see the chunky glitter and I flocked his pompom and the bunny tail.

I am preparing for my 3 year olds pirate birthday party tomorrow. I hope the snow storm we are expecting doesn't start before the party ends. I have crafts for the kids, one I created myself, and I hope to have some cute pics to post of it.

Tonight is 'Let's Make a Deal' at the Scrappers Playground. Like last time when I participated (and won!) the 'Scrappers Dash', we got raffle tickets for every $50 we spent there for the last few months. I won't tell you how many tickets that I have *blush*. In addition, just like the game show, we have to come in costume and "Monty" will be looking for objects from the audience for more fun and games. I am really looking forward to it!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

It's a carving party

Hi Everyone-I've been super busy and I forgot to post yesterday! I wanted to share these quick invitations I made for my Pumpkin Carving Contest on Saturday. I got the instructions for the slider card from Nichole Heady's blog here. I had to make several so I kept it really simple and just stamped in black on kraft. The pumpkins are a Sizzix die and I just added a tiny bit of detail with Copic markers. There faces are stamped in black from a clear halloween set I have that I think is Stampendous. It's from last year and I don't think I ever used it! My Enabler offered me her jack o' lantern dies so I could use those faces but I am so glad I found the stamps instead-they are the perfect size and so much easier than cutting and glueing!

I hope the weather is nice since we are going to hold it in our backyard. I have prizes and lots of food and drink! If it's successful then it might be an annual event-we'll see! Hope everyone has a great day!

A quickie on my way out the door..

No, not that kind of quickie...my hubby will blow a gasket if he see's me posting when I should be packing! Ha! We are headed to our place in the Adirondacks for one last summer weekend of family fun! I created this card below the other day when my mom needed a baby girl card for someone at work. She had moved out of state and was visiting the office with her 4 month old daughter so mom wanted to give her a gift.

Not bad for a really quick card. The image and sentiment are from Stampendous. The hat/top of baby's head are separate so you can make it many different animals...boy or girl. It's a great clear set of stamps. I used some shimmery pink paper for the corners and adorned with Bella flowers. The dp is from a K & Company pack and the ribbon is probably from Michaels. The center and mat were punched with Marvy punches. The image is colored with Copics. Uh oh, gotta go! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I won't have any internet so I will have to catch up when I get home on Sunday! Bye!!

It's ladies day...for bugs at least

This might be the only Fluffles stamp that I own and I don't really know why because she's so cute! Or he? Guess it depends on the situation...

So this was stamped with Memories dye ink in black and colored with none other than Copics. I sparkled up the ladybugs and flower with a Stardust Gelly Roll pen. The scallop circle is a Marvy punch and the paper is from a K&Co pack. I think the flat backed flower charm is from Making Memories. The cardstock is a frosty blue...has a little shimmer to it, really pretty but I don't know who's it is. The sentiment and mat behind it are both punched from the SU! large oval.

Stamps: Sentiment and Fluffles-Stampendous
Ink: Memories Black Dye
Paper: K&Company, Neenah Solar White
Accessories: SU! punch, Making Memories charm, Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pen, Ribbon-Michaels, Marvy circle/scallop punches

I wish everyone a wonderful weekend! I will be busy with two birthday parties my older son will be attending and a family party on Saturday. Be back on Monday!

Happy Queen Bee

Good morning! Ack, Mondays stink and I just never got around to posting...so finally here it is for all 12 or you faithful readers who might look forward to some stuff from me! Ha! Anyway isn't this little bee just the cutest? This great image is from Whipper Snapper Designs . I haven't used it much and it deserved a bit more attention. I stamped the image on PTI white cardstock with Palette Noir and colored with Copic markers. I filled in her wings with the Sakura stardust pen and then went over that with some Judikins Diamond Glaze. I used two Marvy punches for the scalloped ovals and then paper pierced and made polka dots around the it with a white gelly roll pen. I also added a little stardust sparkle to her antennae and dots around the image. I sponged some Brilliance Moonlight white around the large scallop too. The light pink panel is sponged on the edges with Brilliance Dew Drop Pearlescent Orchid and the background panel I doodled with the white gelly roll pen. All of the paper is from Memory box and the sentiment is from the Stampendous Doodle Wings set.

Here's a close up of the image where you can see a bit of the sparkle in her wings.
I actually got around to a couple more cards this weekend so I will be posting again real soon! I have so much catching up to do sometimes I feel overwhelmed. I'm sorry that I have been neglecting all of your blogs and galleries and comments. I've been stressing over an issue at work that won't go away anytime soon and I know I shouldn't take it home but it does carry over a bit and I don't seem to get things done at home or be as efficient as I'd like. But c'est la vie! I hope everyone has a great day!

Stampbord project number 2

Here is my second Stampbord project. I first sponged on Distress inks in Milled Lavender, Broken China, and Peeled Paint, working light to dark from the center out. Then I stamped this image from Stampendous in Stazon black. I used the scratch tool from the Stampbord tool kit to scratch out fine lines, highlights, and some of the dots on the image. I thought it needed a little sparkle so I filled in some of the scratch lines with the Sakura Stardust pen. I finished the Stampbord by coating it with Crystal Effects, letting it run off the edge and wiping off the excess before it dried. I wish I knew all of the patterned paper, but it's scraps...I save everything! The darker purple cardstock is a really pretty metallic and the card base is from Bazzill, but that's the only one I know for sure! The ribbon and sentiment are from Michaels and the hardware from SU! Hodgepodge Hardware. I trimmed the green pp with large scallopped scissors and sponged the edges with Versa Mark Tea Leaves. The dot/stripe paper is sponged on the edges with VM Purple Hydrangea. I added white dots around the scallop circle with a white jelly roll pen. After I glued down the Stampbord onto the circle I thought I should have made it a magnet too like the last one...but it gets really heavy. Who knows, I might change my mind!

Here's a close up view...can you see the sparkle? A little bit...click on the picture to see it even closer!

Glad to be back! I have so much to catch up on...blog posts, SCS posts, new releases! Did you see the new Papertrey Ink stamps? The projects are so cute! I am heading over there to place an order today!

The Butterfly and the Overlay...not a love story

So I saw this gorgeous card over on Michelle Zindorf's blog here and needed to try one myself. This card is my third (or is it fourth?) attempt. This one came out pretty good but I ended up doing it differently than Michelle. I stamped the butterfly and border image in Stazon on the transparency and flipped it over and colored it with Copics instead of alcohol ink. I think the problem I had is that I used a butterfly with large open wings the first few times and the alcohol inks separate and bleed into the next color and I didn't like that look on the large open wings. Using a much more detailed image with a lot of black lines would help to ease the transition between colors. I mean that "issue" with alcohol inks is exactly what I like about them but just not in this case. The first time I tried I used background paper that was too dark...next one I just smudged everything....I don't even remember the third one...yikes. Anyway, here's what I did:

The transparency and background were cut to 5 1/2 inches each and the finished card is 6x6. The bg paper is from Basic Grey Infuse and I stamped swirls on it from Fancy Pants Pollen Dust in Colorbox pigment cats eye inks in greens and white. The white I embossed white as well. Since the cats eye pads are a ColorBox Queue I don't know the color names. After I stamped and colored the transparency I layed it over the stamped bg and attached with brads. Then I layered the whole panel onto another Basic Grey paper...don't remember the line though and finished it with a ribbon. The butterfly and border stamp images are from Stampendous.

Okay, here's my second one below. I used the original technique from Michelle's blog. I thought the image disappeared into the background so I Stickled it...a lot! It's kinda funky, not sure how I feel about it so I didn't really finish it off with a ribbon or anything. It will sit for a while and maybe I will get a feel for something to do with it. The butterfly is from Outlines and the swirls Autumn Leaves VI

And here's my very first attempt...which doesn't look half bad after I look at number 2! This one again I used the alcohol technique. The background paper is BG Infuse which I stamped with several images, some from Stampendous and others from Autumn Leaves. I used a little white Prisma colored pencil to add highlights to the leaves. The butterfly is from Technique Tuesday and the swirls again from Autumn Leaves..v1 or 2 not sure...

Okay, and if Lynne is reading this, one of these cards might be for your birthday, so don't look!

I Just Love this Lion!

I just can't get enough of this Lion from High Hopes . He is so cute I use him quite a lot. I made a birthday card for by BIL who loves receiving my cards. He tells me he looks forward to his birthday and the holidays because he knows he will get a handmade one from me. How nice is that? A guy telling me how much he loves my cards! Ok, my husband tells me their great too...but he has too, right?

Supplies used:
Lion from High Hopes Stamps, Party hat from Stampendous, Prisma Pencils, Ranger Stickles, EK Success corner punch by Rebecca Sower the Attic collection and brads. I wish I could remember where that patterned paper is from...the turquoise polkadot is K&Company...but the brown plaid...have to see if I have any left and find out!

This card I made for a very close friends son's birthday. I just found out that I could use the Cuttlebug embossing folders in my Sizzix so I have been trying them out. I love this swirly one because it is reminiscent of waves and goes great with the image. I was also really excited to find out that I can use all of my Lasting Impressions brass stencils in my Sizzix too! I have a lot! I found a great tutorial for it..check it out! I don't know how to insert the .pdf but you can get it from this thread listed above.

Supplies used:

Stampin Up! Silly Sealife (retired), Cuttlebug Embossing folder Swirls, Ribbon from Michaels, Sentiment from Savvy Stamps, Stickles, Corner punch from Marvy, Oval punch from SU!, and Dew Drops, Distress Ink in Faded Jeans (used to watercolor the whale and ink around image and sentiment) and water brush.

A good friend of mine and fellow stamping/crafter/enabler showed me this great messy technique for distressing which I will describe below. The flower is a stamp from Hampton Art Stamps which I don't know if they carry anymore as I bought it years ago from my LSS (who has since closed). I stamped it on the distress tag and again on cream colored cardstock. I cut the petals from the cream cs and distressed with Tim Holtz Distress Ink and curled each before adhering to the tag. (the tags I bought in a large package at Staples) The center of the flower I filled with Judikins Diamond Glaze and poured seed beads all over. The tube of beads I bought on clearance from Michaels. I always pick up embellishments when I see them on clearance whether I need them or not. But who says you have to "need" it? Wait, that's what gets me in trouble in the first place...oh well. Oh, and there are some fibers and ribbon tied through the end. I am not picky about where I get these things...any store, on clearance, from old clothes or other decor that's no longer being used...whatever.

Here's how I did the tag: WARNING-IT IS VERY MESSY

Crumple up the tag and run under water at the sink. You want it to soften, and you will have to squeeze out some water, but try not to break down the fibers so much that it just distintegrates! Smooth out the dampened tag.

I used a small disposable aluminum roasting pan, placed the tag in it and dropped random drops of Distress Re-Inkers ink on it. Maybe about 2-3 drops each of 3 different colors. The wetter the tag the more running/blending of the ink. Because the tag is thick some of the ink and water will run right off into the pan. This is ok! I used this to rub my tag into if there were any spots left blank. I also continue to use tags and other pieces of paper to soak up any remaining ink in the pan. Makes great backgrounds!

Set aside and let dry. You can speed up the drying time with a heat tool too. Once completely dry you can stamp directly onto the tag. I have done this with a solid image and Distress embossing powder as well with good results. I used a sponge and added more detail by inking the edges of the tag and flower petals as well as some of the creases in the tag with Distress Ink.

Your fingers will be stained but you will have several great backgrounds just ready for stamping and embellishing!