Jake's birthday card

Hello!  No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I have just had a bit of a dry spell in the stamp room.  I've done some knitting, and reading, and some Bible art journalling, but not a lot of stamping.  However, when a special boy turns 10, I had to get inky!

I used the My Favorite Things combination set of letters and cutting die (Vanity License Plate) to make the focal panel.  It's stamped in Deep Lagoon Fluid Chalk Ink and I added the top and bottom words with some snap-together letter stamps. I also edged the license plate with some coordinating Copic marker (BG97 I think) I inked it with versamark (should have heat set first - it smudged - grr) and embossed with several layers of ultra think embossing enamel (UTEE).  It's very shiny and looks like a brand new license plate.  The various accent layers are from the Wander collection (BasicGrey) and all the papers are edged in Memories Art Print Brown. I used my corner rounding punch (small) to round the edges of the main panel to go with the rounded edges of the license plate.  The card base is Crushed Curry (Stampin' Up).  I felt the card needed an accent of some sort, so I fussy-cut some little cars and a bus from a scrap of paper and popped them up, and brushed them with clear Wink of Stella.  I don't think it made the card too girly for Jake.

It was fun to get back into the stamp room.  I will have to clean it up and get back there more regularly.  I felt a bit rusty making this and I miss my ink and rubber! I think what it is is that my job has gotten very interesting in the last year and I have been really engaged and interested there, which has meant that I am more tired when I get home and needing less to "fill up" my "contentedness reservoir" with stamping.  Not a bad reason, I suppose!  It's nice to feel like I enjoy my job.

The other thing that happened in our household that has taken priority in a good way is this little fellow.  Introducing Finnegan!  He's a shih tzu-cocker spaniel mix and we got him on Labour Day weekend when he was 11 months old.  He's a full-time cutie and part-time criminal mastermind, specializing in aerial acrobatics and petty thievery. He has stolen all our hearts and we can't imagine how we ever got by without him. This is a picture of him from the fall, when he really loved roaring around the backyard and jumping in and out of leaf piles.  He would do big laps and sail off the top step of the deck (top of three shallow steps, don't worry) into an enormous pile of maple leaves.

Birthday Bird

 Hello!  Here's a card I made for my dad's birthday.  I had been mulling over different card options (masculine cards are so tricky, aren't they) and nothing was really coming to mind. I did a few trials of a stamped image on inky paper and it wasn't really "coming together".  Then, that wonderful mysterious creative inspiration came into my head - what about a blobby bird card?  Hmm...what about a karate bird!  So I sketched one on my scrap paper and it was so cute.  Probably the cutest one - that's always how it is - the first sketch is the best. Anyway, that bird was just standing there and karate is really about the movement, isn't it.  So I thought, what about the bird breaking a board (pretty impressive to see your dad breaking a board with his bare hands).  So I drew the bird breaking a board.  Then more of that wonderful mysterious creative inspiration came into my head - the bird shouldn't be breaking a board, he should be karate chopping a birthday cake!  So I redrew it again, this time with a birthday cake.  Like usual, I watercoloured the image with Tombow markers and accented the picture with Stickles (Cranberry for the icing, Yellow for the flames, and some Black Diamond for the belt -ssh probably not regulation Shotokan black!)

I mounted the image on Night of Navy paper, then matted it on some citron (precious hoarded citron, only for special occasions like a father's birthday), then arranged some Basic Grey patterned paper (from the June Bug collection).  The sentiment (Papertrey Ink) is stamped in Blue Iris Color Box Fluid Chalk ink.  The paper is all edged in Hero Arts Wet cement (sentiment also edged in Blue Iris).

The second picture is the inside of the card, with some scraps of the paper from the outside on it.  I added an inside panel so that the writing would be easier to contend with on a navy card.  The sentiment on the inside is one of Heather's Stamping Haven stamps (should be available from Frog's Whiskers Ink if you are looking for it), and is stamped in Blue Iris ink too.  I liked this for a birthday stamp - and it's very suitable for this particular recipient (and probably sender too!).

Thank you for stopping by!  Hope you got some time to stamp this weekend too!

January Challenge #11

Hello!  Here's today's challenge card for my self-imposed January challenge.  The focal panel was in my scrap treasure box, and I think it was originally made of watercolour paper that had mopped up some diluted Adirondack colour wash sprays (lettuce and pesto, by the looks of it, though this is pure speculation).  At some interim scrap-rescue phase, I stamped this image (Magenta) on the paper and embossed it in black.  Back it went.  Fast forward to today, when it got plucked again from the scrap pile and enhanced slightly with some Tombow markers.  I added some shading to the skies and foliage with three shades (451, 533 or maybe 553, and 528), blending with a wet-then-blotted paintbrush.  I added the words from an A Muse sentiment stamp to the lines in the corner.  I trimmed out the image, matted on black, then put it on a card base, turning to my wonderful (but sadly neglected) collection of BasicGrey 6x6 packs.  I believe this is the Wanderer collection, and it's a lovely map in shades of blue and green.  I liked the echoing of the modular segments, the similar colour scheme and the way the birds seem to be flying above the streets.  It all seemed to work together.  You know when you leaf through your papers, looking for The One.  Well, this one winked at me and the twinkle in its eye said "Mr Right."  A few Ice Stickles embellishments (lemon and blueberry, I believe) and I was all done.  Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you are getting some time to stamp too.

Sending scoops of love

Hello!  Here's my entry for Bellarific Friday at Stamping Bella this week.  The theme is Valentine's or Red and Pink.  I have this cute Valentine stamp, so I used it.  Inside the card it says "sending you scoops of love".  The image is stamped in India Ink and coloured with pencil crayons (mostly Bruynzeel, some Prismacolor).  The scoop is accented with Sakura glitter pen and the hearts are accented with a couple of layers of glossy accents (let dry in between layers).  The "bottom" hearts have one layer and the "top" hearts have two layers.  The background paper is Basic Grey from the Lemonade collection.  I had some heart shaped rhinestones so I coloured those with a Copic and added them.  I didn't have enough to go all the way across, so I used some little rhinestones in there too.  Here I am, with a Valentine's card in time for Valentine's Day.  Whodathunkit?!

Thanks for stopping by.

Birthday Card

Hello!  Here's a card I made today for my brother's birthday.  He's an avid video gamer, so I thought this would be a good card for him.  It's a Sunshine Designs image, one of a set of four.  I stamped it on watercolour paper and embossed it, then watercoloured it with Tombow markers, and accented with Stickles.  I added in some sound lines and Batman-style "pops" "bzzts" and "zaps" for the sound effects.  The background paper is from the Marrakesh pack of BasicGrey accent papers and the background stamp is another Sunshine Designs cube.  The card base is Mellow Mossand I added a final accent of dimensional pearls (Ranger) in Denim.  A quick card that was good for using some paper scraps.  The longest time is figuring out the layout.  It's also quicker to decide on the paper and then choose the marker colours.  Edited to add:  This is more vibrant in real life but Sauron the Scanner hates me and refused to cooperate.  I tinkered with my photo editing software to the full extent of my patience to no avail.  You'll just have to picture it brighter :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

PS  A huge thank you to the ladies who came out to my calendar class at Heather's Stamping Haven last week.  I had a wonderful time!

Colouring, colouring and more colouring!

Hello! I've been doing some therapeutic colouring lately while watching tv with hubby. I stamped off a bunch of images (Sunshine Designs) with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Heather's 130 lb cardstock and coloured them different colour ways with Copic markers. Last night I had a few minutes while hubby was working on some committee stuff, so I took some time to turn them into cards. Basic formula: find matching cardbase and Basic Grey paper, mat, layer, etc. and finish off with Stickles and Dimensional Pearls. The big flowers got a sentiment in the white space (Stampin' Up). I think my favourite is the yellow flower card. My nephew's favourite was the blue flower card. I sprayed some Delphinium glimmer mist on the background paper for some subtle sparkle in the background. If you're interested, the coloured papers from top to bottom are: PTI lavender moon paper with pattern from BG Kioshi; Stampin' Up Really Rust with paper from BG Scarlett's Letter; Heather's dark purple cardstock (and a SU Sage Shadow mat) with BG LilyKate; SU So Saffron card base with paper from BG Perhaps.

NSR: Just finished reading a Kate Atkinson novel, Started Early, Took My Dog. It's the 3rd or 4th Jackson Brodie mystery and it was really good. Dark, but with great dashes of humour here and there. Also, her books always weave together numerous threads that are seemingly unrelated.

Stampotique Designer Challenge

Hello! Quick post before I dash off to work. Here's my project for this Stampotique Designer Challenge - sketch.

I had a scrap of coloured paper I'd made so I stamped Gog Lin on it and coloured with Bruynzeel pencils. Then added some stones. Both stamps are Stampotique. Then I found some coordinating BasicGrey papers (Recess line) and finished off the sketch. I don't have any Stampotique sentiments (yet) so I used a rub on from my stash for the "celebrate".

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Card or BasicGrey's New Flag

Hello! Here's a baby card I made last night. When I saw this stamp, I fell head over heels in love. First, I love my clothesline. I love hanging out clothes, being outside listening to the birds, pinning things out, seeing them blowing in the breeze, and when they come in they are so fresh and sweet-smelling. And I just loved seeing a line full of diapers, all marching like an orderly little row of soldiers, so pleasing in their symmetry. Second, my littlest girl has a bear just like that one, and just this weekend, Bear had a trip through the washing machine and a day on the line in the sun. Bear got lovingly soaped down with lavender soap, then DD2 watched her get all sudsy and spinning round and and round through the washer window. Then she checked up on her on the line, a few times during the day. It was very dear. She wasn't upset that Bear was getting washed, but she was definitely keeping an eye on the process. And now Bear is lovely and clean, "all sweet and clean and smelly" as our family saying goes.

I stamped the image in versamark and embossed in chocolate brown, then coloured with Tombows and blended with a paintbrush. When I'm trying to match paper, I experiment with colours first on a scrap, and then when I get a combination I like, I jot it down on the back of the paper pack. Here, I'm using BasicGrey's Offbeat, and discovered (again) that Tombow needs a better light blue. I must write a letter to Tombow to suggest it. Many of their blues are quite bright and are either purple or green in tone. They really need one that's more like faded denim. Anyway..... Coloured with Tombows, accented with stickles (waterfall, crystal, candy cane, diamond, patina) and dimensional pearls (espresso), and a doodly frame. I like how the layout turned out, more by accident than design. I had already pulled my papers that I wanted to use, and they didn't quite fit across my 5x7 card, so I fiddled a bit and came up with this. I now see that this isn't at all original, it's the layout of half the flags in the world. I present to you, drum roll please, BasicGrey's new flag! [insert trumpet fanfare, and ideally some bagpipes too]

Thanks for stopping by!

Colouring with Copics

Hello! Here's a card I made out of a piece I coloured up with Copics one evening. I couldn't get it to scan well - in real life it'q quite soft and pretty. On my monitor it looks a bit garish. For a reference, the cardstock is PTI's lavender moon, and the background paper is from the Kioshi line (BasicGrey). The stamp is by Penny Black (gossamer?) and I stamped it in either Memento tuxedo black or Brilliance graphite black (heat set). I did up a batch of different images and used one or the other ink since my little Memento was drying up. (I have a reinker now! Yay.) Anyway, I played with the Copics trying to go for a soft purpley pinky orange look to the petals, which was somewhat achieved in real life. I am less happy with my choice of stickles, but that's ok. Another doodled frame, which I seem to be doing quite often. This is one of my favourite images from Penny Black, but I think I say that about all of them.

I have a few different projects on the go at the moment. I picked up some Shimmer Sheetz and am playing with those at the moment - lots of fun and lots of possibilities. I am also working on my May class sample, a few ideas there and some of the ideas even seem to be going somewhere. I have no trouble stamping when I can just sit down and play. When I have to use a certain thing, I often get a creative block. It's weird.

****One last thing, if you're in the area and want to take my class on Saturday morning (April 16th, 10-12), please call Heather to sign up. I'll be showing how to do quick and easy collages by turning ATC-sized stamps into cards. There are a few little special touches for adding texture and dimension that may surprise you. Give Heather a call by Thursday to register.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bellarific Friday

Here's my card for Bellarific Friday this week at Stamping Bella. It's a sketch challenge and I was just fooling around with the copics while trying to catch up on video debt. Here's what I coloured while good old Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis cleaned up Oxford. It's such a cute image!

I didn't set out to make a card in primary colours. The scanner doesn't do it justice - it's much more virulent in real life. And I haven't even stickled it yet. (I'm not allowed to get any more stickles on the scanner. Some people just don't appreciate patina and distressed/altered surfaces....) I didn't set out to make an orange card. It's just that once I had the image coloured and matted on bright blue (again, how did that happen?), it seemed like a good way to use up my orange paper. That way I can combine the virtuous feelings of actually using my Basic Grey 6x6 packs without having to use any of the paper I actually like. That's not quite true, I do like those circles on the green background, but I'm not sure why I thought they looked good on the orange. In real life it does look a little better. The blue frame is bolder and anchors the eye on the centre. I just couldn't convince Paintshop Pro to darken only the blue scallop mat.

NSR. Well, the girls have been enjoying St. Patrick's Day. They spent two days making decorations and I left them homemade broccoli soup for lunch - nice and green! They were overjoyed when I came home and announced that St. Patrick's Day was a feast day and we could have dessert. They literally danced for joy. We've given up dessert for Lent as a family (all "40 weeks" of it, according to DD2, age 4). The girls then took to the calendar to scout out any other upcoming saints days where Lenten strictures are lifted and were very happy to see St. Joseph's Day on Saturday and the Annunciation next week. Two budding hagiographers, or just two girls keen to find the Lenten loopholes??? Well, happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

Birthday card

I made this card for this challenge at Card Positioning Systems #203. It's sponsored by Stampotique, and there are free stamps to be won, so I thought I would give it a whirl. I didn't have an appropriately sassy/snarky sentiment stamp, so I hand-wrote in, "And how old are you???" I remember when our little was small (like 3) everyone would ask her how old she was, and she would tell them and eventually she started asking them back. It was quite funny to see their discomfiture. To her it was a very common conversational gambit, so why not ask back? She didn't know that little kids aren't supposed to ask grown-ups how old they are. Anyway, that's what I think of when I see little Marci here.

The background papers are BasicGrey (Indian Summer collection) and the card base is More Mustard. Marci and her crown (both Stampotique) are embossed in black and coloured with Tombows.

Sorry for the long silence. I had a wicked 'flu and was in bed for a week. Next year I am getting the 'flu shot. I forgot this year, and I really got hit hard. Our whole family has been knocked down to varying degrees, and unfortunately I was hit the hardest. I hate being home sick and totally lacking the will to stamp. I see them there, I know they're there, and I just don't have the wherewithal to do anything about it. Luckily I am on the mend now, and have come up with two batches of ATCs for the Darkroom Door February swap, featuring the colour red. I also came up with some extras since if you send extra original ones, they will pay the postage back and save me having to figure out international reply coupons, etc. I haven't made too many ATCs so it was fun to experiment with that size of creative space. I made quite a few really hideous things, and eventually stumbled on some treasures. AND my parcel of January allowance arrived in the form of a box from Fred B Mullett, including some gorgeous embossing powders, an enormous Bluegill stamp, and some other marvellous rubber goodness. Can't wait to play with those!!!!! All that ep.... so much fun! Can't wait.

Bellarific Zombie

It's not too often you need a zombie Christmas card, but I thought this Penelope with her prezzies (Stamping Bella) would do just nicely. I "enhanced" her with some stink lines, bugs, beetles, worms, and patches and coloured her up in grungy reds, golds and greens for a seasonal colour palette. The layout was for a Bellarific Friday sketch challenge, so that took care of that. The background paper is from last year's BasicGrey Christmas line (Wassail) and distress stickles finished off "the look". She's stamped in memento black and coloured with Copics.

Now wouldn't this look nice on Miss Havisham's mantlepiece this Christmas????

By the way, I do realize it's after Christmas, but technically, we are now in the season of Christmas, it being the third day of Christmas today. So I am uncharacteristically timely. Happy stamping!

More Christmas Cards

Hello again!

Here are a couple of Christmas cards I made recently. I made quite a number with this image (Stamping Bella), coloured similarly to go with my pack of paper (Jovial line by BasicGrey). I used Copic markers, and then sponged on Antique Linen distress ink to tone the paper from bright white to off white to go with the paper. I also used stickles (Candy cane on birds, patina on dots) and crackle accents (Ranger) on the "boards". I love this image, and it is quite quick to colour up. These were fun cards to make, and good for using scraps of the paper. I edged all the paper with Memories Art Print Brown as well. Well, that's almost it for my Christmas cards this year. They are all (but one, which needs a letter which is only part-way done) in the mail. Now on to the Christmas cleaning and baking. I also want to make some cashew brittle and peppermint bark this year. We'll see how that goes. I also need to wrap presents, but hope to do that while watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I love that movie! Speaking of Christmas shows, I have been watching the Jamie Oliver Family Christmas shows and they are so wonderful! The food looks delicious, and he is such an engaging presenter. I've also really been enjoying watching his series called Jamie's American Road Trip, which is very interesting. Well, time to throw another load of Christmas laundry (not really holiday laundry, but calling it that makes it feel more special).

Thanks for stopping by!

Bellarific Friday

Here's a card I made for Stamping Bella's Bellarific Friday, which is a sketch challenge (all stamps Stamping Bella). I like this cute owl image, with his plaid wings and polka dot tummy. I chose the patterned paper first (Blush, BasicGrey) to get my colour scheme. I used Tombows to colour the owl and mounted him on a scalloped circle (Nestabilities for both cuts). This is a 5 1/4" square card, and the red mat is metallic paper.

I'm not sure what occasion will call for a plaid/polka dot owl card, but doubtless I will recognize it when it comes up. Maybe I'll donate this to the church bazaar and someone will pick it up as the perfect card for someone heading off to an ornithologists' golf tournament. Niche market to be sure, but I would imagine that people have a hard time finding that perfect card for the owl fanciers in their lives.

Thanks for looking!

Inkurable Stampers - September Challenge

Here's my card for the September challenge, "Shoes", over at Inkurable Stampers. I had a few ideas floating around in my head for this challenge, but when it came down to it, I needed some comfort-colouring time. I chose this stamp, a favourite from Sunshine Designs (through The Stamp Barn), and went with shades of brown except for the one green shoe. I briefly dallied with blue, but after I realized my mistake, I left it alone. Possibly will do another flower to hide it, but I have had to do that before and that little flower is a pain in the neck to cut out. I may live with the blue. I cunningly chose a piece of patterned paper with a bit of blue on it, which I see I have obscured with the flower. Sigh. What can I say? I told you I needed some tlc :-) Anyway, these shoes were stamped in gold, embossed with Bavarian Bronze, and coloured with Tombow markers. I also added a red crystal to the red flower. The sentiment is a rub-on. I wanted a stamp that said "one of a kind", but mine was too big and wrong shape. So handy-sized rub-on it was. The patterned paper is Stella Ruby (BasicGrey). I felt the bottom needed some balance, so I rootled around in the flower stash and found this one. It looked too flat, so I thought I would stamp it. Surely there would be a nice text-y stamp on my desk? No. All put away. (how odd!). I did find a slightly black speckled Tim Holtz border, and thought that might do. While it was getting buttoned and assembled it looked fine. After glued down, realized it looks like tire tracks. At least now I know that if I need tire tracks for a project, I can use that stamp!

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby cards

Here are a couple of baby cards for the bazaar stash. Once again, I borrowed one of Krista Schneider's layouts for this cute little Sunshine Designs baby. It's coloured with Tombows and accented with Stickles. This Kioshi paper makes great baby card patterned paper. It's sort of soft and pastel, without being cloyingly sweet. This palette of PTI light yellow and SU Marigold Morning makes a nice gender-neutral baby card. I like how these turned out! The light yellow panel is embossed through the cuttlebug (bird and vine folder) and the dark yellow panel is stamped with the moon stamp from the same cube. Well, mine is the cling version, so 4 stamps, but originally they were sold on cubes. I finally caved and bought it. For ages I've loved it and used my mother's, but it and she live far away so it was time to get my own. It's a baby set that really appeals to me - cute, but not too cute, and gender neutral, with this image, the moon, a pram, and a onesie.

Apologies for the big rant on the last post. The bees in my bonnet were a-buzzing! To get out of my grump, I reflected on my many blessings for which I am deeply grateful. Here are the ones that relate to my grumblings yesterday.

- a job in a time of economic uncertainty, even if my new cubicle isn't as nice as my old one

- a husband who is willing to sort out all the television-related problems (even if it's his new system that's causing them to begin with but I digress)

- a place to park that's close to work that's not a small fortune

- happy memories of a fresh new pack of Laurentian pencil crayons every fall, especially Cherry Red and Peacock Blue

- Rogers: their logo is red. I like red.

Thanks for stopping by!

TGIF!!!

Same layout, same stamp cube, different colour palette, different looks! These were fun little images to colour, and so easy using the colour guide I got to go with them. I also borrowed the layout from a Christmas class I took with Krista Schneider. These images are from Sunshine Designs, available at Heather's Stamping Haven or through The Stamp Barn. If you're interested in some great colouring classes, Krista will be back at Heather's at the end of October. I'm signed up and I can't wait! The projects are always wonderful and Krista is an excellent teacher.

The top card is in a spring palette, and with the colour of the flower, I went with background papers from the Kioshi pack (BasicGrey), and sentiment is a rub on.

The bottom card is more fall-inspired uses the Indian Summer pack (BasicGrey), with another rub on. Fortunately I noticed that I had stamped "may every part of your birthday have happy in it" on the inside of the card that says "thank you" on the outside and was able to cover it up with a liner.

I would really be a force to be reckoned with if I had come with both halves of the wit....

NSR: we had our intake interview with the Kindergarten teacher today. She seems really great and DD2 had a good time checking out her classroom. The province's intake form is about 8 pages long and requires you to remember things like your child's first word (and date), first two-word phrase (and date), and first sentence (and date). I put "good grief, child #2, have no idea". It turns out these are official Ministry forms that get put on the child's official record. Lovely. I hope they file it under "Parent with sense of proportion" not under "Potential dissident with little respect for authority manifested in disregard for official forms".

Speaking of dissidents, I have several bees in my bonnet at the moment. In no particular order:

- am boycotting Newell-Rubbermaid and their legion subsidiaries for discontinuing Laurentian pencil crayons

- am livid with Rogers for their abysmal cable service. They claim that our broken PVR is just a bad signal. We had the cable guy a while ago tell us that our signal was the best he's ever seen. Who do I believe - the guy with the tools or the tool at the call centre? Hmm. Now we have to be home on Sunday afternoon to wait for cable guy.

- They are assigning parking spots in the garage at work, in order of who pays for their monthly pass. I like parking to the right, away from the pillars, on the end near my work, not near the other office building and not in the basement and not at the top. The odds of me getting that spot by chance seem slim. They have given no reason for this change, so this sort of arbitrary upheaval really gets on my nerves. Luckily the guy who owns the garage is some sort of real estate magnate so he is likely to be quite sympathetic to our pleas for the status quo.

- PVR/Rogers woes mean I will lose those new episodes of Hustle I never got to see, the episodes from the new season of Spooks and a couple of Inspector Lewises. I know it's only TV, but I don't watch it all the time and I like to have some guaranteed good shows to watch of an evening to unwind. Yes, there are a few shows I can watch On Demand, assuming the On Demand is working, which it frequently isn't, and demand as I might, not all the shows I want are available on demand. (One of the deceptions of advertising. I guess "On Occasion" didn't test well in the focus groups.)

Well there you have it. Good thing I have stamping or I would be a total basket case!

Thank you card set

Hello! I mentioned in a previous post that I'm trying to build up a stash for the church bazaar this year. I thought some nice sets in a little paper box might sell well. I'm thinking under $10, perfect for teacher gifts, etc.

I had some scraps from a Basic Grey paper pack (Lime Rickey, I think), so I stamped them with a Hero Arts apple and paper pieced them. (I coloured the stems, though, absolutely do not have patience for paper piecing that x12! I made three sets, four cards each. The card base is So Saffron, with a Hero Arts shadow stamp also stamped in So Saffron. I edged it with a doodle line for emphasis using a Micron pen and stamped the little thank you (Impress) underneath. The three dots on the apples are accented with Diamond stickles.

I have gotten more mileage out of that stamp... I love it. It's the perfect all purpose font, and just the right size for this kind of clean-and-simple card. The other picture shows all four cards in the set. I found a template on-line for a box made with one sheet of 12x12, so I made those with decorative paper band to go around them. In real life these are quite cute and came together really quickly. This afternoon I was working on another set, but that one has taken more time since I am designing a new card for each of the four (mostly because I haven't found a layout I love for the scraps and stamps I'm using).

So much for "auto post". I had this set to automatically post on Monday. Oh well. Maybe I have a special, lazier less attentive version of Blogger.

Thanks for stopping by! I've been having fun stamping from my scrap pile this week. I even made a garish orange card for my bizarre stash. ;-)

Doesn't this stamp just make you want to don a wide-brimmed hat and retreat to the hammock with an extremely girly drink? I needed a beverage-related thank you card, so this stamp seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I coloured it using my coloured pencils (Prismacolor, Derwent and Bruynzeel) and blended with odorless mineral spirits. It is heavily embellished with stickles as well. This card was begging for glitter! I stamped the butterfly wings so I could pop up the wings. I chose my colour scheme to coordinate with this fresh paper from BasicGrey (Euphoria, a state not unrelated to stamping/exotic bevvies!). The ribbon and circle punches are Stampin' Up, and the TY stamp is Sylvia Wu for Rubber Soul. I pinked the edges of one of the strips using edged scissors for a bit of an accent. I feel like I should have sewn on this too, oh well. The recipient will never know. I was able to add ribbon and forced myself to leave it on ;-) I am really bad for fiddling with ribbon endlessly, only to take it off in the end. The card base is an old one I had in my paper scraps, with some really ugly stamping on the front and edged in purple. Needless to say, it has been a bit neglected, since I seldom require a 5 1/4" square Cool Caribbean card edged in purple. However, this situation did call for it, so my tendency to hoard even the most unlikely paper scraps has been positively reinforced. (See also yesterday's post with the scrap-punched flowers!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Hoo Loves You?

I just couldn't resist these stamps last week when I was in my LSS. They had gotten some new A Muse stamps in and I couldn't help but think that if I got these new ones I would be able to make cards like Julie Ebersole. [Like that could ever happen! Still, it can't hurt to try, right???]

I stamped these images in black India Ink and coloured them with Prismacolor pencil crayons, blended with odourless mineral spirits and a blending stump. I would love to know how to do this better. The colouring is ok (other than under the lidless eye of Sauron the Scanner), but I really don't know what to do with the stumps. I have been cleaning them between colours on this soft sanding block I have, but it seems to be softening the tips so they are getting feathery. I may try to get some sandpaper and see if that works. I feel like there is this whole body of stump lore out there that I am just unaware of. Kind of like those contestants on Amazing Race this week (two pairs of them!!!!) who didn't know who Joan of Arc was and thought he (!!!!) was the one who ferried animals around (!!!!!). I am still shaking my head.

Anyway, if anybody reading this has any stump lore they would like to share with me, or a link to a great blog with tips/instructions/secrets of the stump coven, I would really appreciate it.

More about this card: the white paper is SU's whisper white, and it's matted on basic black. The card base is soft suede, the buttons are PTI, the thread is crochet cotton, and the patterned paper is BasicGrey, Granola line, which I love. So funky!!! I loved how the big circles evoked those dear little owl eyes. And I love that owl on the branch making eyes at the other owl. And I just love the boy owl's expression, so charmingly stunned. (You probably noticed I used the classical Greek technique of colouring the male darker and the female lighter. Sauron the Scanner didn't really pick it up as well as I would have liked.) I wonder if I am brave enough to ink in a little heart between the two owls. It could ruin the whole thing, which, being glued together with Tombow Mono Multi, could never be pried apart. I think I will go for it.

------- (mentally sing the final Jeopardy jingle to yourself if you wish) --------------------

I'm back now, and have added some hearts and am entirely too pleased with myself. What do you think? Is it better with hearts? I channeled Her Royal Rubberness and inked them in. (Julie HRR often adds her own sentiments, pictures, etc. and is a wizard with the Micron. I am not even a wizard's apprentice, but I am pleased with these hearts!)

I think I will try to find a way to sneak this into DH's coat pocket or something so he will find it unsuspectingly. I did show him an early stage of colouring, but I don't think he'll remember. And he said his aversion to ribbon is wearing down, so the little brown felt tab (SU) shouldn't be too overwhelming for him. I was originally going to make this for my daughter's lunch box, but it's a bit sombre for a little girl. I think I will make a sunnier version for her. But that will be another day's project.

Thanks for stopping by!