Wish Big

Recipe:

Stamps: Hero Arts Woodland Creatures, Penny Black Critter Party (inside sentiment), Stampendous Rainbows Play (umbrella), Penny Black Micey Day (outside sentiment)

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Mementos Tuxedo Black (for colored image), Copics YR12, YR 15, YR 18

Cardstock: White, Black, DCWV Pocket Full of Posies designer papers

Other: Cuttlebug Floral Screen and Tiny Bubbles embossing folders, large oval punch, small oval punch, foam tape, black gingham ribbon, paper piercer, sponge mat

Happy Happy Birthday

Recipe:

Stamps: Hero Arts Woodland Creatures, Penny Black Critter Party, "Happy Happy Birthday" sentiment by The Angel Company (TAC)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxide Fired Brick

Cardstock: White, Teresa Collins Fabrications designer papers

Other: Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls and Birds and Swirls embossing Folders, Martha Stewart Arched Lattice border punch, cream ribbon, stitching, foam tape

A little stamping done!

After a long break from doing anything stamping-related I recently made some cards for family and a friend. I've not been following the stamping trends or buying anything new, so I'm clueless as to what is currently popular. Just trying to be content using what I already have. It's been very enjoyable and I hope the urge lasts.

This one was for a good friend of mine. I took a white pompom and colored it with a yellow Copic marker for the hat top. I used black string to give the balloons a little dimension, and also popped out the left balloon with a dimensional dot. I did a nifty stitch on the ribbon that makes me think of a heartbeat and zigzags just to jazz the edges up a bit. Let me just say, corners are so hard to stitch!



I could not get the colors in the upper and lower pics to match, so please forgive the differences. You can see the pompom, string and the balloon more closely below (and every stray bit and boo-boo that I never catch until after I look at the pics!)



I made this one for my hubs last year for his birthday, but never posted it. Probably should've avoided the overuse of the Mesh texture. Oh, well. I had fun doing the crazy sewing stitches all over the place!



Squiggle squiggle! Love it!



And this one I made him this year. More guy-ish for sure, and he loves classic cars. I made mine to look kind of like a rainbow trout. I don't know why! I just did!



Still love using LOTS of texture on my cards. All coloring was done using Copics.



I went wild with my sewing machine on all of these cards, trying different stitches. Turning corners was tricky, so I had to kind of ad lib because of what I ended up with. I threw in the gems in a funky way to play along with the jumpy stitches. It sort of works, I think.



So that's all the stamping I've done so far, but I have another birthday I need a card for, so there's more stamping in the near future.

Not sure if anyone still comes here anymore, but if you do, thanks for stopping by!

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

Spoil yourself silly!

I am so excited about the great illustrators I keep running across who are marketing digital stamps of their artwork to card makers. I ran across another one on Paper Craft Planet and wandered about on her site ooohing and ahhing over her wonderful images. She's Cheryl Alger of Sassy Cheryl's.



Her style reminds me of the Ramona/Henry/Ribsy books. Her drawings have such wonderful movement. I especially like her quirky/gangly children. She really captures childhood, I think.

This image was a freebie for joining her PCP group. What fun it was to color! I bought a couple more of her images and will hopefully be playing with them soon.

Goodness, I need to slow down! This is getting to be an obsession!

Stamps: All the Frills digi by Sassy Cheryl's, word saying from Penny Black Bubbly set

CS: PTI white, black, Basic Grey Cupcake collection

Inks: printer, Versafine Onyx Black

Copics: W3, W5, E000, R00, E41, YR20YR23, E35, E57, YG95, R24, R29

Other marker: SU Bashful Blue

Other: Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls, Spots and Dots, Nestabilities Classic Oval Small, Classic Oval Scallops Small, Labels 4, ticket corner punch, black polka dot ribbon, SU Playground buttons, sewing machine, foam mounting tape, 3D-Dots

Mousy Birthday Cupcake

Hello there!

Wow! You wouldn't believe how much trouble I had with this card! I finally wrestled it to the ground today and won! My mojo was nowhere to be found and every way I arranged the card elements just did not appeal. I think I've gotten into a creative rut. At least I finished the card, though. This will be for my mother-in-law's birthday. I thought she'd enjoy the sweetness of the Penny Black mice. So cheerful!

The designer papers I used were from the Basic Grey Lemonade 6x6 pad. Such cheerful papers! They're some of my favorites.

I tried something new with my hole punching. I used the sewing machine without thread to do around the edges of the Rose Red base and along the edge of the white vertical piece. It certainly was easier, but I wouldn't say it was straighter. In the right situation this could be a nice shortcut.

For the mice scene I used watercolor paper to stamp the image on because I feel it lends itself to far more flexibility in coloring. I used SU markers to color with and blended mostly with them - with a bit of water brushing here and there to remove color or wash it out a bit. What fun it is! I don't crave Copics anymore since finding this method. I'm sure they're superior in every way, but their price just stops me dead in my tracks every time I have a notion to buy some. And then where to start? There are so many! SU markers will happily satisfy me for now.

I glittered the cupcake frosting and the candle flame to make them stand out some. I used Crystal Snow fine white glitter on the frosting and yellow Stickles for the flame.

I actually had the mice scene done weeks ago. I just had to build the card around it. I've been working on this card for almost 2 weeks, off and on! Phew! Talk about frustrating!


I have so many cards to make this month. September and May seem to be the big birthday/anniversary months for us. Hopefully, my mojo will return and I will have cards made for everyone! I've got to get busy!

Hope all is well with you! TFL! God bless you all!

Recipe

Stamps: Penny Black Critter Party

CS: Black, Rose Red, Basic Grey Lemonade, white, Canson watercolor paper

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx

Markers: Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Yoyo Yellow, Pretty in Pink, Rose Romance

Other: Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Oval Scallop Small, Classic Oval Large, Blossom; Cuttlebug Traffic Jam and Swiss Dots embossing folders, large and small oval punches, Martha Stewart Embossed Zigzag border punch, sewing machine, paper piercing tool, sponge mat, large pale pink gemstones, black polka dot ribbon, pale green satin ribbon, 3D-Dots, water brush, Crystal Snow fine white glitter, yellow Stickles

Hello Friend

Not much stamping this week. We had some home repairs done and my time wasn't so free. But I did whip this card up yesterday after the work was completed. The doggy stamp was calling to me. ;)

I haven't done much background stamping lately so I thought I'd use one for this card. I thought this old SU Chicken Wire stamp was just the right touch.

There is laundry waiting for me and a kitchen to clean up. And I think I need to shoo some kids off the Wii, so I better run.

I'm really enjoying all this offline time! It gives me time to ponder and pray. But I do miss being able to blog hop more.

Hope your day is a lovely one!

Recipe

Stamps: Penny Black Critter Party, Stampin' Up! Chicken Wire (retired), saying from a TAC set I have forgotten the name of.

CS: White, Bordering Blue, Memory Box Rhubarb Tart, black

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Markers: Creamy Caramel, So Saffron, Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Bordering Blue, Old Olive, C1 Cool Gray Copic

Other: Nestabilities Blossom and Standard Circle Small dies, Prima Daisy Dreams daisy, Sticky Doos, spiral punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, black gingham ribbon, Diamond Glaze (for dog's nose), yellow Stickles

Happy Dad's Day!

Happy Sunday! And Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there (not sure I have any dad readers, but if I do, that's fer you!).

I gave this card to my hubs this morning. He already has his present. He's a tech geek and wanted one of these for Father's Day. It was quite the hit at scout camp (which is why he got it early - he had to share his joy with the other geeky scout dads, of course).

So, all he got from me today was a card and eating out at one of our favorite hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurants.

This doggy from the Penny Black "Bubbly" set was, I thought, a great Father's Day image, what with the tie and all. I stamped him 3 times: once on the main piece, and twice on scraps, all watercolor paper. Then I cut out the dog and then just the tie to give it extra dimension. I glued the top of the tie down at the neck and used a bit of a dimensional piece to make it stick out at the bottom like a real tie would. I stamped the SU Riveting circle and then punched it out and ran it through the Cuttlebug. Then I put it on with a 3D-Dot.



For the inside I took a Hero Arts stamp from "Happy Dad's Day" (CL335) and blocked the word "Dad" and the exclamation point and re-inserted the exclamation point at the end of "I Love You". That was a bit tricky as the exclamation point kind of gets in the way and it took 2 Post-It notes to get it out of the way.



Well, I've got 2 more cards to get ready to post for you this week. I plan to continue spending lots of time offline as I find it so relaxing, and my kids like it that I'm so available to them! My house stays cleaner, too! Go figure! ;)

Have a wonderful day and week! Be blessed and get in some stamping!

Recipe

Stamps: Penny Black "Bubbly", Stampin' Up! Riveting, Hero Arts "Happy Dad's Day" (CL335) (inside)

CS: Only Orange, black, American Crafts "Celebration" dp, Canson watercolor paper

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black

Markers: Only Orange, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, Basic Black

Other: Cuttlebug Mesh and Tiny Bubbles embossing folders, Nestabilities Labels One, 1" circle punch, gems, black zigzag ribbon, orange grosgrain ribbon, 3D-Dots, sewing machine, Post-It notes

Breakfast Friends

Good evening! I'm still having fun with those Penny Black stamps, as you can see!

Something simple this time. I think I might try making this in a standard A2 size next time. I like this, but I think I'd love it if it weren't so big. What do you think?

No frills coloring. I used mainly Stampin' Up! markers, the True Thyme ink pad (because there is no marker), and a water brush. About the only odd thing I did was use a silver Sharpie marker for the toaster and I touched up the black parts with a black Micron archival ink pen. I tried a silver Prismacolor pencil on another one I did that didn't turn out well, and wasn't as happy with the look as I am with the Sharpie version.

I used NO Cuttlebug embossing! I only used Stampin' Up! background stamps, Sanded and Canvas. The "friends" stamp is from the Hero Arts set that has the cute froggie you've seen here in the recent past.

This one took a lot less time than some of my other cards, I can tell you that! Simple cards are fun to slip in between the more elaborate ones. Not sure what I'll do next!

Thanks for looking! God bless!

Stamps: Penny Black 'Micey Day', sentiment from Hero Arts 'Sending Happy Thoughts' (CL305), Stampin' Up! Sanded and Canvas background stamps

CS: Black, Real Red, True Thyme (retired In Color), Canson watercolor paper

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, True Thyme, Real Red

Markers: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, Real Red

Other: Nestabilities Classic circle, Classic Scalloped circle, ticket corner punch, black gingham ribbon, 3D-Dots, silver Sharpie, black Micron pen, Inkssentials opaque white gel pen, water brush

Spoil Yourself Silly! Penny Black

Holy cow, I had a time of it trying to get this card's colors right in my camera! That Elegant Eggplant cs just thumbs its nose at every effort to get it to look like it's supposed to! So the purple is off a bit. Strangely, everything else looks right. What is it with reds and purples? They are so hard to photograph! Should I thumb my nose back at it? That would be kind a weird, wouldn't it?

I was playing with my new Penny Black stamps yesterday and chose my card colors based on the challenge at the Color Throwdown blog for this week (CT44). The colors for this challenge are Bordering Blue, Elegant Eggplant and Barely Banana. The hostess chose these colors based on the Basic Grey Wisteria collection. I just happened to have recently bought the 6X6 pad, and was eager to use it. I ended up going more subtle in the end, with only a hint of one of the wilder papers.

That smeary looking part near the word "silly" is actually the way the paper looks. I wasn't thinking when I was placing it on the card, that the saying would be right there and it would give the illusion of a smudge. Oh well.

One thing I love about the Penny Black images is that they are fun to color. And they're just so dern cute! I see lots of stamps that are far less cute getting far more attention. It's a crime! I mean, just LOOK at this kitty!! And look at his little mousey friend! So CUTE! Why aren't these all over SCS??

I stamped the little guys on Canson watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink. Then I colored them with SU markers, a water brush and some ink pads. I used the Inkssentials opaque white gel pen to highlight the bubbles and such.

Not much else I need to say, I'm afraid. The rest is pretty self-explanatory. This was my Napoleon Dynamite card. IOW, I watched ND while making it. I love that totally nerdy, weird film! Do you watch movies while you stamp?

Thanks for looking! Have a lovely evening!

Stamps: Penny Black "Bubbly" set

CS: Elegant Eggplant, Bordering Blue, Basic Grey Wisteria papers, black, Canson watercolor paper, white

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, CTMH Pansy Purple, True Thyme, Pretty in Pink, Cameo Coral

Markers: Bordering Blue, Creamy Caramel, Bashful Blue

Other: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Nestabilities Classic Ovals and Classic Oval Scallop, ticket corner punch, Martha Stewart Embossed Zigzag border punch, sewing machine, black polka dot ribbon, 3D-Dots

Hi There! Penny Black cuteness and an award!

Good evening!!

I have loved Penny Black stamps ever since I saw them for the first time over 7 years ago. But do you think I ever bought one?? Why I hold off on getting things I love I do not know.

Well, I went into Archiver's yesterday. Need I say more? Penny Black is now offering their adorable images in clear stamp format and in sets!! Now I have no excuses. I was totally taken with the Micey Day set. I couldn't wait to get them home and color them!

And do you know what I found to be a perfect mouse-y color? True Thyme. Remember True Thyme, one of those Stampin' Up "In Colors"? It is PERFECT. Perfect Perfect Perfect. I hardly ever use that color even though I like it. But I can see that there will be more opportunities now that I have mice to color, and cats and dogs! (more on that when the time comes) If you have any True Thyme ink and you have any animal stamps you'd like to color, I recommend it as a wonderful color choice!

I want you to know that I could not get the colors adjusted right in these pics. The purples are redder than they really are and the blues are bluer than they really are. I used Pale Plum and Perfect Plum and Bordering Blue and Brocade Blue to color with. So try to imagine that when looking at these.

I was so taken with Tosh's Wisteria card and Amy's also, that I grabbed a Basic Grey Wisteria pad while at Archiver's. It's colors are just perfect for the inks I chose.

This sketch is from this week's Mojo Monday (week 88). I went a bit outside the box and used the Labels One Nestabilities dies to create my 2 columns behind the circle. I hope you can see the tiny greeting to the left of them. I bought that in a set by TAC years ago and can't recall the name. If anyone knows it could you educate me so I can write it on the stamp storage box they're in? I thought it went so well with this image. So sweet!!

You'll notice, no Cuttlebug embossing! I know, hard to believe! I just decided to skip it for a change. I thought there was enough busyness on this card already. I did add the Sizzix Architectural Accents die cuts, though. The corner on the top left just needed something. Then I felt it needed to be balanced on the bottom right.

I had so much fun watercoloring this image! I used Versafine Onyx Black ink on Canson watercolor paper (found at Hobby Lobby). Then I colored with markers, water brush and ink pads.

In case it's hard for you to see, I wanted to point out that I took a scissors blade to the edges of the Wisteria papers as I wanted a really rough edge on them. The thread cutter does a nice job for a light distressing, but the scissors really rip that edge!

Now, on to the award! Sandee over at Simply Southern Sandee has awarded me the Exalting Christ award! This is my second time receiving it and I feel honored that Sandee would pick me as one of her recipients! Thank you, Sandee!! You're a dear!

Well, thanks for looking and have a wonderful day tomorrow! Can you believe that the weekend is already so near?

Stamps: Micey Day set by Penny Black, "hi there" sentiment by TAC

CS: Black, Basic Grey Wisteria, Canson watercolor paper

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, True Thyme

Markers: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Mellow Moss

Other: Nestabilities Labels One, Standard Circles Large, Standard Circles Small; Sizzix Architectural Accents die, Basic Grey Porcelain brads, 3D-Dots, Sticky Doos, water brush, black rick-rack ribbon, sewing machine, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Xyron 150 Create-a-Sticker, scissors for creating rough edges on dp, Inkssentials opaque white pen (for highlights on cup handle)