Hello Friend 😊

Hi, there! It's been a while! I haven't stamped for a couple of years. I was a bit rusty making this card, but it's all starting to come back to me. The thing about stamping is it's a very expensive hobby to get into. But the stuff you buy lasts a good, long time - most of it, anyway. I have so many lovely older stamp sets, papers, dies, etc. to play with. I still even have my Stamp-a-ma-jig! Anyone else still using theirs? I mean why buy the 10-times-better newest gadgets when the old stuff still works just fine, right? 

I hope to be sharing more on here in the near future. Not sure if I'll be the only one visiting my old stamping blog at this point😄, but if you came by for a visit to see if I was here, thanks so much and please leave a comment to let me know!

Take care!

Recipe:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Unfroggetable, Stampin' Up! Amazing to Zany

CS: Prima Doodle Deux decorative papers, White, Black

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black,

Copics: BG11, BG13, E41, W1

Other: Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, Taylored Expressions Chevron Border die, Sizzix Architectural Accents die, paper piercer, sponge mat, Stamp-a-ma-jig, googly eyes, Stickles Fruit Punch and Frosted Lace glitter glues, black gingham ribbon, foam tape

Winter Friend Card

Hello to anyone who might wander over here to my stamping place! I hope you enjoy your visit! I am back in the swing of things after a 3-year hiatus and am enjoying myself immensely. Stamping is a very satisfying, albeit expensive, hobby, and I love it.

I made a bunch of these cards for some online friends in lieu of Christmas cards, as I got a very late start on my Christmas cards last year and didn't have time for 10 more cards. So I made these January/Winter cards instead. Do you like my little pom-pom trim? It looks like little hanging snowballs!

I was looking through my Pure Innocence digital stamps and thought this cutie would be perfect for a Winter card. So I printed out 11 copies of her (one as a sampler) on good white cardstock and got busy coloring them. I did the backgrounds with Copic markers BG10, BG11, BG13, and BG18 until I ran out of ink for the BG10 and BG11 and had to find substitutes. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I had to use another brand of markers and found them wanting. But they did fill in for my Copics until I could get some refill ink.

I used R29, some YGs (yellow-greens), some Es and Rs for her face, Some Es for her hair, and the W7 plus a reddish brown for her boots (although the pic doesn't show it right).

I wanted to depict swirling snow, so I used the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder and a swirls stamp from the retired SU! set I Like Your Style. I stamped in SU! Real Red ink (do they still sell that color? I feel so ancient asking that!).

I used a Uni-ball Signo white gel pen on all the white areas. And I did a little stitching around the edge. What made the card pop for me were the red gems. They really added a lot.

Inside, I just made a simple design using the I Like Your Style stamp I used on the outside and 2 stamps from the SU set Amazing to Zany (probably also retired).

I made another card yesterday and will be sharing that one soon. Thanks for coming by! Please let me know that you stopped by! I love visitors! Happy Weekend!

Stamps: Pure Innocence 008 digital stamp, SU! Amazing to Zany, SU! I Like Your Style

CS: White

Inks: SU! Real Red, Copics

Other: Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls embossing folder, turquoise stitching, red gems, pom pom trim, foam tape, Uniball white gel pen for white highlights

Lovely Friend

Hey all! No shiny black hair here yet, but a lovely octopus!

I started out by picking the paper and the octopus from SU Silly Sealife just seemed to fit well with it. It was all an excuse to color really! I looked through my digis and nothing spoke to me. So I went through my rubber stamps and settled on the octopus. You notice I made him a her? It just seemed right since I was making the card fairly feminine. Although, I imagine octopuses aren't very lovely in and of themselves, but God created them so unique that they have a beauty all their own. So there. ;)

Hope you have a lovely Monday, my stamping friends! I have mountains of laundry and dishes waiting for me!

Recipe

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Silly Sealife, Stampin' Up! Amazing to Zany

CS: CTMH Autumn Terracotta, black, Basic Grey Archaic designer paper, white

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black

Copic markers: E57, R02, W3, W5, YG63, YG91, YG93, YG95

Other: Nestabilities Standard Circle Large & Small, Large Classic Inverted Scalloped Circle, paper-piercing tool, sponge mat, large & small oval punches, pearl gems, cream satin ribbon, black gingham ribbon, sewing machine, foam tape, Inkssentials opaque white gel pen, homemade Bow Easy

I've been published! Woot!

I had sent this card in to a magazine almost 2 years ago! It was one of those deals where if you send a SASE with your card you would get your card back if they decided not to use it. I never got it back. I was just wondering the other day about this very card! Isn't that weird? And now it's published! How cool is that? The magazine just came to my house today!

This is the third time I've been published. I'm just so stoked! I need to submit more cards. I'm always so overly critical of myself and usually chicken out. But I should make myself do it! You should, too!

Stamping magazines have been changing hands and names so much lately that I'm not even sure who it was I actually submitted this to. But I'm very thankful they saw fit to use it!

If you get the August issue of Crafts 'n Things you'll find my card in the Reader Gallery on page 96.

I want to give a shout out to my stamping friends Connie Babbert and Sue Erickson who also got their cards published on this same page! Congrats, ladies!!

Have a wonderful day today, everyone!

Sporty birthday

I've got SO many cards I need to make! This card is for my teenage nephew whose birthday is already past. Oops. Wish there were more stamping hours in my day!

I felt the need to simplify again. Mind, this isn't 'simple' in some people's eyes, but it is in mine. It's hard to go backwards once you're used to flinging the bling!

The base is one layer thick (excluding the inside) with a minimum of bling (for me). But the bling I did use works well enough, I think.

It's always hard trying to come up with a card for a teenage young man. Men's cards are difficult, in general, but a teenage version is the hardest. And thinking about it now I should've used the Nestabilities Labels One set (forgot I had it! Can you beLIEVE it?) rather than the scallop for the car image (which btw is from Stampin' Up! Classic Convertibles - retired). It would've been less foo-foo-y. Oh well, he'll never know. My 16 yo son loved it and thought my nephew would like it, so that's enough for me.

The base is Taken with Teal, but I couldn't get that color to look right in the photograph to save my life. It looks more like Tempting Turquoise, doesn't it? Some colors are just like that when you photograph them indoors. I used the Cuttlebug Traffic Jam embossing folder to add some visual interest.

I used 2 black jumbo eyelets that I think are by Making Memories. I wove black hemp through and around and pulled one end back through again, tying it on the inside.

I used the small and large oval punches for the birthday greeting, which I stamped in VersaMark ink and embossed with white ep. The sentiment is from the Stampin' Up! Amazing to Zany set.

The car scene is popped out with 3D-Dots as is the sentiment piece. I used black and Chocolate Chip cs for the sentiment piece.

When coloring the car I used the CTMH Breeze marker and Prismacolor pencils. I added highlights here and there with my Inkssentials opaque white pen. To finish it off I added Diamond Glaze (aka Crystal effects) to the windshield, side panel, hub caps and headlights. I had colored it before running the image through the Cuttlebug. I added the Diamond Glaze afterward.

Don't you just love my new watermark? I had it made by Dina Kowal. Here's her digi-sig site. She's very reasonable and ever so nice to work with. I got 4 watermarks for $11. Very reasonable, indeed!

Thanks for looking!

Recipe

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Classic Convertibles, Stampin' Up! Amazing to Zany

CS: Taken with Teal, black, white, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, VersaMark

Other: Cuttlebug Traffic Jam and Tiny Bubbles embossing folders, Nestabilities Classic Oval Large and Classic Oval Scallops Large, large and small oval punches, 3D-Dots, white embossing powder, Making Memories jumbo black eyelets, black hemp, Croc-a-dile (for making holes and setting eyelets), Diamond Glaze, CTMH Ocean marker, Prismacolor pencils, Inkssentials opaque white pen

Flourishes Poppy OCC Challenge

Movement. That's what this card represents. Swirls and colors going ever-wicha-way. ;)

I was so inspired by the OCC Challenge sketch this week. I chose to do mine in a 5" X 5" square format.

After seeing Julee's card I HAD to play. Mine isn't nearly as nice as hers, but I still feel perty good about it.

I had gotten some new papers last week and some of those 6 X 6 notepads of designer papers (they were 30% off, how could I not?). I had been dying to try them on something, and planned on using them with my new Flourishes stamps. Well, the OCC challenge was just the right sketch to use. I wanted to highlight either a coffee cup or a grouping of poppies. You can see what I chose first.

I did a lot of cuttlebugging and poking holes in this card. First I matted the main piece of Old Olive cs with black cs. Then I poked holes all around the edges using the mat pack. Despite lining the holes up as carefully as possible, they still came out a bit crooked. I found out later on in making the other areas with holes that doing it freehand with a straight pin over the spongy mat was a lot easier than using the hole guide. Just an FYI in case you're thinking you need the mat pack. You may not!

So, holes holes holes. I put them in the ovals and in every petal on the Nestabilities scalloped piece. It was fun. The ovals remind me of suede or leather. Amazing what some holes can do for the cs.

For the cuttlebugging, I ran the big piece of designer paper on the right (K&Company K-OLOGY "Addison") through using the "D'Vine Swirls" embossing folder. I sanded the surface to make the EF design pop out. I used a wavy-edged plastic page thingy (I've had since I started stamping, so I have no idea who made it) to cut the Swirl vellum and the other piece of dp from the same K&Company pad. I used vellum tape to hold down the vellum.

I popped out the 2 scallops with Dimensionals and ran the white circle through the CB using the "Mesh" folder. I also used the Mesh folder on the flowers after stamping them on the dp and cutting them out. They are also popped out with Dimensionals, except for the stems. I had to pile 3 half pieces of Dimensionals under the leaves to make them line up with the flowers.

There's probably more. I'll add it if I think of it. TFL!!

Stamps: Flourishes "Poppy", SU Amazing to Zany

CS: Old Olive, Black, K&Company K-OLOGY "Addison" dp, SU Swirl vellum, White

Ink: Basic Black

Other: Cuttlebug embossing folders: "D'Vine Swirls" and "Mesh"; Nestabilities regular circle, 2 scalloped circles, Lg. oval punch, Sm. oval punch, 1/8" hole punch, Crop-a-dile (for eyelets), Black eyelets, Old Olive marker, Dimensionals, Vellum tape, Sandpaper, Mat pack, Straight pin

Mojo Monday Father's Day cards

I was over at Julee Tilman's awesome blog recently and was inspired to do my Father's Day cards using her Mojo Monday Week #39 design. It's so much easier to use a predetermined design.



This card was done for my hubby. I realized afterwards that the ribbon wasn't exactly like the design I was trying to replicate. Oh well. I used the dad and son stamp from SU Seaside Sketches and the "amazing" came from (interestingly) the SU Amazing to Zany set. The "dad" part was from "Girls are Weird", an alpha set by Purple Onion Designs. I used 2 different Cuttlebug embossing folders for the red CS and the designer paper (Basic Grey), Before cuttlebugging the red CS, I stamped it with the SU Print Pattern background stamp using VersaMark ink (might be a little hard to see).



For the dad and son part I stamped in black dye ink on the white CS background. Then I stamped the image again on another piece of white. I colored the image with various SU markers, using the smaller end of the Old Olive marker to do the grass. Then I cut it out and adhered it with Dimensionals to the white background. I used lots of Dimensionals!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Seaside Sketches, SU Amazing to Zany, Purple Designs "Girls are Weird" alphas, SU Print Pattern
CS: Always Artichoke, Black, Real Red, Basic Grey designer paper, More Mustard
Inks/Markers: Basic Black, Real Red, Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa, Summer Sun (with Close to Cocoa in the hair), Chocolate Chip, Bordering Blue, Blush Blossom, Old Olive
Other: Cuttlebug embossing folders: "Mesh" and "Tiny Bubbles", Zigzag ribbon, 1" circle punch, 1&1/4" circle punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals



The second card is for my dad. He loveslovesloves to fish out in his boat, so I've gotten a lot of use out of the SU Fishin' set for him, but I think I'm due for a change. This set has served me well, though.

I did the cuttlebugging on the circles designer paper (Basic Grey), which I LOVE (I'm trying to keep myself from buying too much designer paper. It can become addictive! So I'm using what I have for as long as I can stand it). The fishing scene was actually done using 3 stamps from the set using my beloved Stamp-a-ma-jig. I stamped the basket first, then made a mask and covered the basket. Then I stamped the cat tails once and then with the grassy stamp several times to cover up the "water" under the cat tails. I removed the mask and colored the images with markers and a water brush and ink pads.

The "awesome dad" alpha set is one I got...somewhere. Can't remember who made it. I've had it for quite awhile and have rarely used it. Lots of Dimensionals on this one, too. Where would I be without Dimensionals??

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Fishin', unknown alpha set
CS: Always Artichoke, Black, Basic Grey designer paper, Glossy white
Inks/Markers: Basic Black, Old Olive, Really Rust, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, Bordering Blue, Close to Cocoa
Other: Cuttlebug embossing folder "Tiny Bubbles", Zigzag ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals, Sizzlets oval die (for larger oval), oval punch (for smaller oval)

Card using Stampin' Up! Sweet Herbs set for a friend's challenge and a Mojo Monday design challenge

This card uses a design challenge I saw on Amy Westerman's blog.



I wanted to stamp some more so I asked Teresa to challenge me with her choice of stamp set. She chose Sweet Herbs (retired Stampin' Up!) as her first choice. I'll admit that as much as I like this set, I find it a challenge to use creatively. But I like a challenge and decided to give it a more current look. Designer papers are all the rage in the stamping world, and I have plenty to play with even though my collection is minuscule compared with some stampers. So you might recognize these papers (from the Blitzen Collection by Basic Grey). I've used them many times before. They're very versatile. I stamp right on the papers and they take the ink very well.

I used the Cuttlebug and the Script embossing folder for the strip across the bottom of the card. Cuttlebugging always adds a nice touch, don't you think?

I made a little mini purse by punching out 2 squares of designer paper and punching holes in a symmetrical pattern around 3 of the edges. Then I used 3 strands of dark brown embroidering floss and a cross stitching needle and sewed around the edges. Nothing fancy, but I like the contrast. I made a handle for the purse with another 3-strand piece of embroidery floss, tied it to the top holes and left a little fringe. I tucked a smaller punched square of vellum that I stamped (before punching), and then adhered it with a couple of Dimensionals so it would stay put and "float".



In fact, I used a lot of Dimensionals on this card. It's popping out all over the place, just the way I like it. :) Hope you like it, too.

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Sweet Herbs (retired), SU Amazing to Zany
CS: Black, Designer papers from Basic Grey's Blitzen Collection, Vellum
Ink: StazOn Jet Black
Other: Cuttlebug and Cuttlebug "Script" embossing folder, Black mini-brads, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, Square punch, 1/16"hole punch, Brown embroidery floss, Cross stitching needle, Dimensionals

I stamped today! Fresh Fruits set

It's been a long time.



This is a simple design to start back with. I had to use a flash to get the colors right. I oomphed it up a bit by using the Cuttlebug and the Mesh embossing folder on the pumpkin cardstock. To bring out the relief image of the embossing, I sponged some pumpkin ink over it. Of course, I used black as an accent color, as anyone who knows my card-making style would expect. ;)

To make the pineapple bottom, I used 2 colors of ink: mustard and ruby red - both together created a pumpkin-y color. I stamped first in the mustard, and then in the red, and then on the white cardstock. For the top I used mustard and olive green, stamping in the mustard first, then the olive. Then I rubbed a black marker around the edges of the stamps and stamped over the inked images. I use a Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to position the second images properly. I huffed on the stamps before stamping every time, btw.

Here's a close-up of the pineapple so you can see how nice the inks mesh together and how cool it looks to outline the images:



I really like how the image turned out! I'll be doing this again.

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Fresh Fruits, Amazing to Zany
CS: Black, Pumpkin, White
Inks: More Mustard, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Basic Black marker, Cuttlebug, "Mesh" embossing folder, zigzag ribbon, oval punch, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, silver mini-brad, Dimensionals

Pocket card

Recipe:

Stamps: Canvas, Love without End, Amazing to Zany, Stampabilities "Love is a Fruit", Print Pattern (although almost not worth mentioning), CTMH Storytime Uppercase and Lowercase

Paper: Black, Bravo Burgundy, True Thyme, Naturals Ivory, Basic Grey "Blitzen" collection designer paper

Ink: True Thyme, Basic Black, Versamark (on circles/flowers scraps)

Accessories: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, sewing machine, many different circle punches (1/4", 1/8", 1/16", 1"), corner punch, double rectangle punch, lg. flower punch, sm. flower punch, mini brads, Dimensionals, Diamond Glaze

Here's my contribution to this week's Sunday Sketch Challenge.

This time Amy used a pocket card design which thrilled me, as I was wanting an excuse to make one!

This one is actually a little bigger than her standard design sketch because I gave in and framed it in black after doing the main part without it. Just can't hep myseff. So this probably wouldn't fit in an A4 envelope.

The cardstocks used are black for the biggest piece, then Bravo Burgundy, then a piece of designer paper from the Basic Grey Blitzen collection. The cardstocks used on the pocket insert are black and True Thyme. The word saying on the front is stamped on Naturals Ivory (aka Quest Cover Ivory). The circle/flower thingies use black and True Thyme.

*deep breath* Okay, where to begin? lol This card is so convoluted, I'm not sure what to talk about first! I guess I'll go from back to front.

Nothing to speak of on the black. The burgundy was sponged with Basic Black ink. I used a corner punch on the burgundy cs and the designer paper. The designer paper was tacked very lightly with mono to the burgundy cs and was then sewed on using a zigzag stitch, although my sewing machine's settings must be a bit off - technically, the stitch isn't quite right. Nonetheless, it did look pretty cool. I am a major amateur sewer, btw! (Don't you hate that the word "sewer" means such different things, yet we think of the yucky definition when we see it spelled out? lol) Then I ran that sucker part-way through the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles folder and Cuttlebugged it, leaving the top un-Cuttlebugged. heh Finally, I sponged some Basic Black ink on the Cuttlebugged part to emphasize it more.

The piece I created to resemble the "edge" or "lip" of the pocket was made by punching holes with 2 different hole punches in a random fashion on black cs using a 1/4" punch and a 1/16" punch. I adhered that to a slightly smaller piece of True Thyme cs and mounted that onto the pocket with Dimensionals and a bit of Diamond Glaze for extra strength.

For the word phrase feature, I stamped the Canvas background stamp in True Thyme ink on the Naturals Ivory cs and then stamped the "Love is a Fruit" stamp by Stampabilities in Basic Black ink on top of that. I mounted it on black cs and used a 1/16" hole punch on the corners to allow for some antique copper mini-brads to be affixed. I mounted the whole thing on the front of the card with Dimensionals adhered with Diamond Glaze.

A close-up of the circle features:

For the circle features to the right, I used 4 punches: a larger circle, a larger flower, a smaller flower, and the 1/16" hole punch to put the mini-brads through. Honestly, the tiny hole punch was hard to use on such tiny objects. So I ended up using the tip of my x-acto knife to make the hole. I adhered these with Dimensionals and Diamond Glaze. You might notice a pattern on the True Thyme cs I punched out. That was from a cardstock scrap that had some stamping on it from the Canvas and Print Pattern stamps. I thought the look would be more interesting rather than just punching out of a plain, unstamped piece of cardstock.

Pocket insert:

For the pocket insert, I stamped with the Canvas stamp in True Thyme ink. Then I used the solid flower stamp from Love without End and the tiny word stamps from Amazing to Zany to decorate the surface. The letters for Jesus's name are from CTMH's Storytime Uppercase and Lowercase sets.

I cut a half circle in the True Thyme part of the insert by holding a circle punch upside down and positioning the punch where I wanted the half circle to be. Then I punched a double rectangle in the black and cut out the center with my x-acto knife so I'd have a larger rectangle with which to insert the ribbons. The ribbons are black organdy, blue grosgrain, and olive grosgrain with lines stitched up the middle.

Masculine antiqued car thank you card

Recipe:

Stamps: Canvas, Classic Pickups, Amazing to Zany

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, vanilla

Ink: Basic Brown, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink by Tim Holtz, Kaleidacolor "Cappuccino Delight" rainbow pad

Accessories: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, sponges, waterbrush, Inkworx air art gun, Chocolate Chip marker, Close to Cocoa marker, Dimensionals, Diamond Glaze, leather string, cream ribbon, dark antique brass brads, scissors

Techniques: antiquing

I needed to make a card for one of my hubby's work colleagues who generously loaned us his truck to pick up our new riding mower recently. So this is what I came up with.

Like a lot of stampers, I find it very challenging to do masculine cards. This one was doubly challenging as I chose to do it with the TCL108 coffee with cream challenge in mind: browns and creams and nothing else, and no coffee or chocolate themes. That's right, no black for me! Do you KNOW how hard that is? Well, I'll admit I did at one point use a teensy bit of black via a Micron pen to try to emphasize the truck feature a bit as I was having quite a time trying to bring it out. Unfortunately, the micro lines of black weren't a good addition. So I went over them with the Chocolate Chip marker, which did the trick. I should've tried that in the first place. You'll read more about this further down.

As you can see, I've incorporated the Canvas background stamp mixed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder again, this time stamping Canvas in Chocolate Chip on Close to Cocoa and then running it through the Cuttlebug using the Tiny Bubbles EF. And finally, rubbing the "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink pad (by Tim Holtz) over the Cuttlebugged part and sponging (I think! I'm a bit vague on the color I used here) the lightest color from the Kaleidacolor Cappuccino Delight rainbow pad in the holes. The look is pretty cool, I think.

I began the card by rubbing the same ink just mentioned (Vintage Photo) all over the biggest piece of cardstock (the main "card" portion). It looked awesome, like leather. It proved a bit challenging to glue the Cuttlebugged piece to the main card because the ink was so thick from all that rubbing, it affected the "stickability" of the adhesive. So I had to help things along by using Diamond Glaze (aka Crystal Effects) to adhere them. That took care of it.

The horizontal ribbon feature I used is from SU and comes in a cream color (what is that stuff, basting tape?) and I sponged the lightest color from Cappuccino Delight pad onto it and touched it up a bit with the next darker color on that pad (I was glad to find an excuse to use that pad). I stamped the "thanks" stamp from Amazing to Zany on it and used a 1/16" hole punch to make holes for the brads. I thought the brads kind of kept the circle theme of the Cuttlebugged part pretty nicely. I wanted the ribbon's edges to be a bit frayed to add more texture. I do love texture on a card. I also used Diamond Glaze to help the ribbon adhere. There was definitely a lot of trouble with adhering on this card. Diamond Glaze came to the rescue many times!

The truck feature was the hardest part to deal with and I'm not sure it'd be that easy to duplicate. I did so much layering of color to achieve the final look, it would be hard to describe. But I'll do my best, beginning with a close-up:

The cardstock I worked with for the truck was vanilla. I stamped the truck twice: once for the base, and once for the cut-out part. I stamped them both first in the Vintage Photo ink, then danced the stamp in SU's Basic Brown ink and then stamped it on the vanilla and it gave the trucks a lovely mottled look. But once they dried, the images were kind of blah. So on the base piece, I sponged inks from the Cappuccino Delight pad to give the look lots of warmth, and then spritzed it with the Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa markers via my Inkworx air art gun to add a vintage-y look. Then I roughed up the edges with my scissors blade, scraping it across the edges and then sponged some more. I adhered that piece to a piece of Chocolate Chip cs which was well-rubbed with the Vintage Photo ink. I used Dimensionals, but they wouldn't stick. So I put some Diamond Glaze on the Dimensionals and they're good and stuck now.

Once the base was done I worked on the cut-out part. I cut it out and adhered it to the base with Dimensionals, and then I waterbrushed and sponged it with various browns (Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Basic Brown, Cappuccino Delight). Still blah. So I took the aforementioned black Micron pen and tried to very lightly doodle over the truck lines so it would stand out more. It did, but not in a good way. It added a bluish tone. So I doodled over that with the Chocolate Chip marker using both ends of the marker here and there, and that did the trick. Phew!

Once that was finished, I prepared the leather string by tying the ends in knots for more texture and looped and adhered it behind the truck feature. Then I adhered that whole thing to the Cuttlebugged part with Dimensionals and Diamond Glaze.

What a job!

Orange watercolored whale card

Recipe:

Stamps: Silly Sealife, Amazing to Zany, So Very

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Black, White glossy

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black; Markers: Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Not Quite Navy, Bordering Blue

Accessories: Dimensionals, sm. oval punch, zigzag ribbon, water brush, Cuttlebug D'Vine embossing folder, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Techniques: Watercoloring

Yes, more watercoloring. It's so much fun. I can't help myself! And yes, I snuck black in this one, too, even though I tried to hold back. I just love the contrast against the black. What can I say?

I had actually intended this card to be yellow and orange. I was in a down mood from some real life issues and needed some cheering up and was using some orange and yellow gingham as a jumping-off point. Then I turned left and went for the zigzag instead. Despite the black and dark colors, I did find this card to be quite cheerful. How can it not be with that cute little whale? Now, if I could just learn to photograph well! Urgh! (Fixed it - just need to photograph in the early part of the day, NOT at night!)

I love the Silly Sealife set. It's just so precious! I need to pull out the Fishy Friends stamps so they can all make friends with each other, eh?

Happy Harmony friend card

Recipe:

Stamps: Canvas, Print Pattern, Happy Harmony, Amazing to Zany

Paper: Black (natch!), True Thyme, Ruby Red, White

Ink: VersaMark, True Thyme; Markers: Black, Always Artichoke, Ruby Red

Accessories: Brown/Black Gingham ribbon, Cuttlebug Script embossing folder, Water spritzer, Small oval punch, Dimensionals

Techniques: Watercolor Misting

Amy Westerman holds a weekly challenge on her blog that I like participating in. This card is from this week's challenge.

For the flowers, I applied the marker inks to the stamp and then very lightly misted it with water and stamped. I love the watercolor-y look it gives.

I love this design Amy challenged us to use! I slightly altered the sentiment location because I couldn't make it work where it was supposed to go on my card. Otherwise, I think I stayed true to the challenge. Thanks again Amy!

Purple octopus friend card

Recipe:

Stamps: Canvas, Silly Sealife, Amazing to Zany

Paper: Black (yeeees, again), Eggplant Envy, Glossy white

Ink: Basic Black dye, Versamark, CTMH Dutch Blue

Accessories: Markers: Eggplant Envy, Bordering Blue; Cuttlebug D'Vine embossing folder, circle punch, Black gingham ribbon, Black polka dot ribbon, Dimensionals, water brush

Techniques: watercoloring

I've been wanting to do another Silly Sealife image in watercolor ever since I did the whale. So here's the octopus. :)

On glossy white cardstock I stamped in black dye ink. After it dried, I used my Eggplant Envy marker for the reddish-purple parts and a CTMH ink call Dutch Blue for the bluer areas. I used the Bordering Blue marker for the shadows. I just kept adding and building and building and adding, blending with the water brush as I went. I left an area almost completely unpainted for the shine on the head, but I did put a slight amount of the blue there so it wouldn't be too stark. I built up the lower areas a bit darker to give some roundness to the image.

If you've never tried watercoloring, give it a go. It can be such fun!