Medieval rose thanks

This is the second card I made a few weeks ago. I was playing around with a scalloped square Nestabilities piece and came up with a sort of medieval look. I might do this more often. I like the many options this opens up.

The Creamy Caramel cardstock was scored using a Scor-Pal. If you look closely you'll see a couple of goofs. I accidentally slipped when I was scoring the paper and I also dented the cardstock when I tied the ribbon too tight. Dern! Was not about to start over at that point, though. See? I am making progress on my perfectionism. :D



All the cardstock except the black and white was done direct-to-paper with matching inks. It makes the paper look like suede. Love that!

The roses were colored with Copics. I layered many colors over each other.

I used the Kassie's Brocade Cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss over the roses.

The word stamp is from SU Wonderful Words. Boy, all my stamps are becoming ancient relics, aren't they? lol I think just about everything I own is now retired!

Well, thanks for looking! Hope you enjoy this card. God's blessings on you.

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Stipple Rose, SU Wonderful Words

CS: Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel, Black, White

Inks: Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel, VersaFine Onyx Black, various Copic markers

Other: Cuttlebug Kassie's Brocade embossing folder, Scalloped square Nestabilities die, Square Nestabilities die, Scor-Pal, red gems, olive organdy ribbon, red zigzag ribbon, button, foam tape, Diamond Glaze (to glue button down)

Hydrangea Thanks

Hi all! It's been awhile. I actually made this card weeks ago, but life's busyness and having the flu last week kept me from photographing it. I actually made 2 cards, but one will have to wait to be posted until the person I made it for receives it. She reads here and I want her to see it first.

I did several things to the dark green part of the card. I used Always Artichoke cs and did direct to paper inking with the same colored ink. Then after it dried I stamped it with the SU Canvas background stamp in Always Artichoke ink, as well. Then I stamped in the lower right corner with a word stamp from the old SU Botanicals set.



I used the Ornare paper piercing plate and added some ornate curly q's to the corners. I also did some paper piercing around the "Thanks" embellishment. The bee is also from Botanicals.



I used Copics for the coloring and a white gel pen to emphasize the flower centers.

It felt good to stamp again. I am trying not to look too much at other people's work. I've found that doing that causes me to become envious and to lose my desire to stamp. Some people are way ahead of me in money and talent. I need to be content with what God has given me. I'm happier that way.

Thanks for coming by! God bless you all!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Stipple Hydrangea, SU Canvas, SU Botanicals, SU Year Round Cheer

CS: SU Night of Navy, SU Always Artichoke, white

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Always Artichoke, various Copic markers

Other: Cuttlebug Kassie's Brocade embossing folder, Rectangle Nestabilities die, lg. and sm. oval punches, Ornare paper piercing template, paper piercer, green gems, foam tape, olive organdy ribbon, white gel pen

Please pass this along

If you take pictures on a smart phone and post them on the Web, watch this. Then change your settings!



H/T Mommy Life

Mice make a wish birthday

More fun with Penny Black stamps!

This card is for a friend whose birthday is coming up. She likes pink and I was in the mood to work with pastel colors. Notice, no black paper!

I love coloring these images. Most of the coloring was done with Copics, but I used a few SU markers to do the bibs and the purple on the candle.

I had originally wanted to use eyelets rather than mini brads, but I couldn't get them to work right. Too much to go through, I guess, and my Crop-a-Dile couldn't even reach that far in. Why did I buy that thing again? Okay, it IS useful sometimes.

This card actually started out using this week's Mojo Monday sketch, but I just fought with the design so much that I tossed part of it and fudged another. In the end I was much happier with how things turned out.



My son was amazed at how I got the candlelight effect, but it's actually very easy. Once you color your design, use a medium to light yellow and color just the fronts of each character. Also, color the top of the cupcake in the center, radiating outwardly. The key is to start light and go heavier until you create the glow you want.

Hope you are having a lovely Saturday! It's cold and getting colder here in North Georgia. A front is coming in with lots of wind; and it's supposed to get down into the teens tonight with the wind chill likely getting into the single digits. I think this is the coldest it has been all winter.

Blessings to you all!

Recipe:

Stamps: Penny Black "Critter Party", SU By Definition

CS: SU Positively Pink, Sage Shadow, Barely Banana, white, Basic Grey dp

Inks: Positively Pink, Sage Shadow, Barely Banana, Memento Tuxedo Black

Markers: Sage Shadow, Bashful Blue, Lavender Lace, misc. Copics

Other: Cuttlebug Perfectly Paisley, Spots and Dots and D'Vine Swirls embossing folders. Oval Nestabilities dies, Martha Stewart Doily Lace border punch, Silver mini-brads, Pink grosgrain ribbon. Corner ticket punch, foam tape, sewing machine

Hedgie friendship

Isn't this image adorable? Can Penny Black's hedgies be out-cuted? I don't think so! I love these images for coloring. They're great fun. I only wish they were bigger so I could color them longer.

Here's a peek inside. I added the ribbon as an afterthought, so it's not neatly tucked away. But I tried to make it look attractive anyway.

I love gatefold cards!



Cute little hedgie. This card was almost a St. Valentine's Day card as I almost used the Hugs and Kisses stamp from All Year Cheer, an old Stampin' Up! set. Instead, I took the friendship stamp from Close to My Heart's Geometric Thoughts.



Well, howdy-doo, I stamped, people! Throw a party! lol

Inspired By Nature and a comeback?

I'm back, sort of. My stamping mojo left me and I haven't really felt like stamping for quite a long time. But I've taken up hand embroidery and I love it and usually spend my time on that these days.

But my friend, Teresa, inspired me with her recent card creations and I'm kind of looking at my stamping stuff again. Where this goes I don't know, but at least I took this blog out of mothballs. :)

Below is the only card I've created for months. Even so, my mojo was nowhere to be found.



Maybe opening things up here again will help.

I like your style, Donna!

I'm trying to make more time to play lately. I've found that if I don't make time I will have none. There are always things I "need" to be doing, but a little fun now and then is what keeps one sane, amen?

This card was inspired by Donna Mikasa's creation found here. It doesn't really look like her card, but her colors inspired me. The red, yellow and green on the brown was what excited me. ALL her cards excite me. She's a card-making genius. But the colors on this one especially grabbed me. Thank God for inspiration! Where would we be without it?

I had a dickens of a time trying to photograph this card for some reason. Taking it outside seemed the only solution to making it look good. Inside pics all looked washed out. So it looks brighter than it really is. And shiny ribbon is just murder on a photo shoot, ya know?

I took the main brown piece and stamped the big image from Stampin' Up! I Like Your Style in black ink and let it dry. This was white card stock, btw. Then I did direct-to-paper inking all over it using Vintage Photo distress ink. Then I crumpled it up, smoothed it out, and did more inking to simulate creased leather. I used large eyelets to hold it down on the black cs underneath. I used a Crop-a-Dile to apply the eyelets.

For the dress forms I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copics. Then after they dried I cut them out and sponged them with Vintage Photo ink. Same with the tag. I used pop dots to adhere them. The flowers are actually green and the hearts are yellow and green, but the sponging kind of washed them out. But that was intentional. ;)

Hoping to get more stamping done now that I'm forcing myself to play!

Thanks for looking!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU I Like Your Style

CS: Black, white

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Copics: R29, YR12, YG13

Other: Black organdy ribbon, paper piercing tool, sponge mat, corner rounder punch, spiral punch, foam tape, pop dots, large black eyelets, sponge dauber, Crop-a-Dile

Did you give up on me yet?

Hello to the 5 or so people who still come by to see if I'm here. ;) Has it really been since March that I haven't posted? Well, that's because I haven't been stamping until this past week when I finally cleaned up my stamping area. I can't work in a mess and I have been too tired and lethargic to deal with it. But I got out the bottle of cod liver oil in my fridge and took some every day this week and I've had more energy. I cleaned out our overflowing junk drawer and dealt with the box of junk drawer junk from the last time I emptied it! Plus, I went through our vast pen and pencil collection and checked to make sure all the pens worked and then sharpened all the pencils. And I threw out a lot! Not to mention cleaning up a big section of my study where I stamp. So thanks, cod liver oil!

This card is fairly simple considering how much I usually load up my cards, but I just couldn't think of anything to add that would improve it. I struggled a lot with the image and trying to color cleanly. Those Copics are so juicy that it's hard to color in small areas. I hope someday they come up with a marker that has the regular point, a smaller point (I never use the chiseled end, do you?), and can be used with an air brush. That would be perfection in my book. Aren't the CIAO markers like that except that they can't be used in an air brush?

Well, I'll go back to my cave now. I hope to be doing more stamping soon. My creativity is in a bit of a rut and I'd like to break out of my usual choices and do something fresh with some old stamps. *sigh* We'll see. Thanks for coming by! Today, I gave you something to see for a change! ;)

Stamps: Pure Innocence 023 digi stamp by Heather Ellis, word stamp by Stampin' Up! set Smorgasborders

CS: Black, Pocket Full of Posies by DCWV, White

Ink: Computer ink and Versafine Onyx Black

Copics: B41, YG13, YR12, R00, R02, R29, E33, V06, Colorless Blender

Other: Nestabilities Inverted Scallop Circle, Standard Circle, Cuttlebug Birds and Swirls embossing folder, black polka dot ribbon, sewing machine, corner ticket punch, 1/2" circle punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, velcro tab (for holding card closed), foam mounting tape.

Any Copic hand-colored charts out there for sale?

Hey everyone! I'm pulling my hair out trying to pick Copic markers again, and I thought it would be wonderful if someone hand colored a chart with the actual (Sketch) markers and sold it. But I can't find anything like that out there. Do any of you know of such a thing? Or could I get someone with all the colors to color me a chart? I'd be willing to pay you for your time. It would be a lot cheaper than buying markers I'm not happy with!

Anyone? Anyone?

How I spent some of my birthday money

I love organizational tools. Enough, in fact, to spend precious birthday money on them.

I had been drooling over the Color Cubbies that I've seen around the stamping blogosphere and knew that someday I would have some of my own.

At first I was only going to buy 2 as I don't have a very big Copic collection yet and I thought I could use them for my SU and CTMH markers, as well. But the shipping was pretty high on 2. So I put one more in the cart just to see if it would change by much. Well, 3 was barely more in shipping than 2! So I figured I'd just bite the bullet and get 3 now even though it meant I'd have less to spend on other things.

I LOVE them!



They're really well made and packaged. Good and sturdy. And I don't think they're too expensive. It is so easy to see all of my markers at a glance now, and it's so easy to remove and replace them.

Now I just need to decide which Copics to buy so I can start filling 'em up!

Birthday money to spend

Oh, you guys, I have very generous parents and a mother-in-law and now I have some cash to spend on myself! I'm thinking that more Copics is a must because I use them pretty much every time I stamp now and my collection has some bare spots to fill in.

But otherwise, is there anything new coming out that is a must-have in your mind? I've not been keeping up with the trends since I've been avoiding spending money until my past stamping debt heals. And no, birthday money will not go toward my debt. It is off limits! ;)

Inexpensive way to make alcohol ink applicator pads

If you use alcohol inks and an applicator with removable felt pads, here's a tip I ran across that keeps the cost down on those pads.

More frogs!

These frogs are not altered much. I actually did them before playing around with the frogs for the last card.

For the stamped background I used SU Shapes & Shadows, doing the Double Time technique by overlapping complementary images and leaving some white space, then cutting a piece for my card. Then I ran it through the Cuttlebug with the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder.

I used the Swiss Dots folder on the frog pieces and the Forest Branches folder on the yellow cs. Almost everything is textured!

I colored the frogs with Copics. I just can't seem to use anything else as the Copics are so gentle and smooth on the paper.

Thanks for looking! Today is my birthday and I'm meeting a friend for lunch. This card will be for her. I hope you enjoy it!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Unfrogettable, SU Shapes & Shadows, SU Upsy Daisy

CS: Pixie Pink, Black, Summer Sun, White

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Pixie Pink, Certainly Celery, Summer Sun

Other: Copics, Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls, Forest Branches and Swiss Dots embossing folders, Nestabilities circle, inverted scallop circle and rectangle and scalloped rectangle dies, black organdy ribbon, foam tape

The many faces of Unfrogettable

I never realized how versatile the sitting frog from SU Unfrogettable was. It was so much fun playing around with the features using just the thin end of an SU Basic Black marker. Now I need to see what other stamps I can embellish like this!

I had to be careful not to touch the black ink with the Copics as I colored them. The Copic ink makes the SU marker ink run, unfortunately. And the Versafine ink I stamped with also is not Copic-friendly. So you have to be careful. But I liked the more cartoonish way I colored the frogs. I meant them to show a little white here and there. It looks more whimsical, I think.

I used puffy fabric paint for the girl on the bottom right's pearls.

Nifty tip: To switch the direction of the eyes, draw eyelid lines over the pupils. Then redraw the pupils in a new spot.

Thanks for coming by for a look!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Unfrogettable, SU I Like Your Style

CS: Black, Real Red, White

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Ink Antique Linen

Markers: Copics, SU Basic Black

Other: Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes embossing folder, Nestabilities circle die, inverted scallop circle die, black hemp, foam tape, white puffy fabric paint, sponge dauber