It's Technique Tuesday Tuesday!

There's a tag challenge going on at Technique Tuesday's Splitcoast forum. Since tomorrow is the first night of Chanukah and since I have lots of wrapping and gift identifying to do, I decided to make a Chanukah gift tag. Since I didn't have any Technique Tuesday Chanukah stamps, I had to improvise! I looked through my TT binder and had a "Eureeka Moment!

Here it is!


I used the scalloped banner from the Message in a Banner set by Technique Tuesday to create a Star of David. I stamped using blue Memento ink onto white Basics patterned paper by Basic Grey. I then colored the circles with yellow and blue Copic markers. Something was missing, so I colored some random circles violet!

The sentiment is from a sentiment set by Purple Onion Designs. That set is one of my best investments ever!

I colored the blue and white ribbons with yellow marker to make 'em all matchy matchy.

By the way, Chanukah can be spelled many different ways because it's a transliteration of the Hebrew word for Chanukah. That's today's factoid! :D

Thanks for visiting today!

My Bombshell "Black Friday" Challenge Card

Mary H., Ms. November (Bombshell's Guest Designer) set the theme for a November Challenge, which was "Black Friday", where we were challenged to use black. I decided to use one of my most favorite Bombshell stamps, the Full Sail Ship from the Homeward Bound set.

Here it is:


I colored the ship with my Copic markers in shades of grey. Then I heat set the skull and sword from A Pirate's Life set with white embossing powder. I diecut the image and sponged a bit of Distress Ink onto it while it was still in the die. The sunset, clouds, sky, and sea were then colored with Copic markers. Whitecaps were added with an Inksentials white gel pen. Pewter and Black Soot Stickles were used to edge the oval.

The patterned paper is from Basic Grey. After layering the paper, I used an Ideology Compass mask and sponged Distress Ink over it several times.

The sentiment is from the Homeward Bound set, which was then overstamped with an empty banner from the Banner Sayings set. I colored the banner with the same Copic greys, then cut it out. Both the ship oval and the sentiment were popped up on dimensionals.

The photo is a bit lopsided, caused by my mad photography skillz compounded the after-effects of several hours of eye exams. *sigh* Plus, I took the photo at night indoors. I'll try for a better photo if the weathr cooperates tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting today!

Wild and Free

I'll freely state that I love sunsets and am fascinated by them, so I continue to keep trying to capture them. This attempt uses several of the new western-themed digital stamps by Bombshell Stamps, which is running a fabulous Black Friday Sale this weekend. Plus, if you sign up as a blog follower, you get the chance to win a fabulous prize.

Anyways, I digress. The big rearing horse is from the Wild Horses digital set. The cacti and the clouds are from the Desert Background digital set.

The nice thing about digital stamps is that you can change their sizes and orientations, so I did just that. Then I printed out my little scene, colored the horse, cacti, and clouds with my Copic markers. I heat embossed them with clear embossing powder to act as a resist, used the negative of a circle punch as a reverse mask, then sponged Distress and Memento inks to create a setting sun. The next step was to mask the sun with the circle and sponge the sky and desert. I added shadows with Copic marker. I have no idea if I got the position of the shadows correct, but perfection is overrated. *grin*

When I was moderately happy with my little scene, I realized it was really too big for a card, so I decided to make it into a wall hanging. So, I made a frame from old Cosmo Cricket wood-grain paper, heat embossed it, added the pewter eyelets (almost exhausted my stash of those though I have a gazillion colored ones), and added the twine. I computer generated the sentiment, printed it out on parchment paper, then stamped an empty banner from the Banner Sayings set over the words, added some Copic shading, then cut it out and glued it onto the frame. The frame is popped up with dimensional tape and was put over the scene which was matted on green and white cardstock. The angle of the phototograph makes it look uneven, but it is moderately even in real life.

I've got it hanging up on my wall now! Yay.

Thanks for visiting today!

Thanksgiving Third Coast Thursday

The Kitty Fairy (CH-681-G) is a Third Coast stamp which was colored with Copic markers. The branch and leaves are from the Fall on Me set by Technique Tuesday and were stamped with Memento inks and accented with Copic markers. The sentiment is from the Mixed Messages set by Paper Trey Ink.

The patterned papers are from the Restoration 6x6 pad by Crate paper (the mat layer). The background papers are from the Indian Summer 6x6 pad by Basic Grey.

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for visiting today!

Bombshell Stamps Blog Contest!

To kick it off and celebrate the new blog, there's a "Follow This Blog" Contest! It's super easy to enter, and the winner will have their choice of 2 stamp sets (1 rubber + 1 digital)!!!

The contest rules are as follows:
1. Sign up to follow the blog by December 20th, 2010.
2. Provide a post on your personal blog promoting the contest (current followers just need to add a post to their blog).

Here's a link for you, so click on over and sign up as a follower!

It's Technique Tuesday Tuesday again!

I missed a few weeks of my Technique Tuesday Tuesdays because I was away on vacation. However, I did bring stamps, Inktense pencils, and some Copic markers with me and played whenever I got a chance. I must say that there's something very relaxing and civilized about sitting outside by a pool, under some palm trees, coloring.

I didn't put together many cards, just card fronts, so it's taken me a little while to turn them into full cards.

That turned out to be okay because we've had a death in the family, so I needed to make a condolence card. Here it is.


I stamped the maple and oak leaves from the Fall on Me set by Technique Tuesday and colored them with my Inktense pencils. The colors are much more intense than watercolor pencils. Plus, when they dry, the color is permanent and translucent and lends itself to layering of colors.

The sentiment is from the Mixed Messages set by Paper Trey. The patterned paper is by Cosmo Cricket. I colored the white thread in the ribbon with a Copic marker. It looks much cooler irl.

Thanks for visiting today!

Howdy Again!

Yep. Back with another card using Bombshell's new Western-themed digital stamp release, which includes six sets! Yeehaw.

This one was colored with Copics. The patterned paper is a bandana print from Flair Designs. I added one layer of fringed paper trim by Doodlebug, which was colored with Copics. Then I added a rub-on "Howdy", which wasn't straight and made my inner Virgo control freak miserable, so I added two more layers of fringe to cover it up. I actually like this version better, so it was a "happy accident". It was still missing something, so I added hemp twine and a tag with a hand written "Howdy" on it.

Thanks for visiting.

Kick up your heels & celebrate! Another new release card!

Here's another birthday card using one of the new Western-themed digital stamps from Bombshell. I'm essentially ignorant of all things equine AND I was on vacation, away from Google, so I had to wing it as far as coloring the horse and its accessories. I hope I got it right.

I colored with Copic markers, used Glaze pen on the hooves, and used old, beloved Flair Designs papers from my stash with the leather-look specialty paper from FiberMark.

This image was colored the day after flying down to Florida. Apparently, my E35 marker had some problem with the pressurization/depressurization thang, because it spat a blot all over my paper after I had colored the focal image. Fortunately, the blot was not over the image, but I had no alternative other than coming up with a way to cover or delete the blot. I opted for paper tearing. Yahoo. Problem solved. Lesson learned. After flying, open your markers away from your project.

Thanks for visiting today!

Yee-haw!

Here's a card using another image from the new Bombshell Digital stamp release!



I colored the image and background with Copic markers. The horse's hooves are covered with a layer of Glaze pen for dimension and shine.

Both patterned papers are from the late, lamented Flair Designs. The leather-look paper is also from a company that no longer is in the paper-crafting business, FiberMark. :( (great big sad face).

The sentiment is computer generated and uses two fonts, one of them aptly called "Giddy Up".

Thanks for visiting!

Yahoo! New Bombshell Digital Stamp Release!

Howdy! There's a new western-themed Bombshell digital stamp release that will be available very soon. Horses, cowboys, cowgirls, and background scenery will let you create some amazing projects. Better yet is that the new digi stamps play well with many of the older rubber stamp sets like Retro Cowgirl!

Talking about projects, be sure to check the new Bombshell Stamps Blog to see what the other Bombshell Girls created with the new stamps.

Here's one of mine that I had submitted to a recent pub call, but it wasn't picked up, so I can share it with you today.


The card uses one of the new images, plus the small horseshoe from the Love & Luck set. The patterned papers are by Cosmo Cricket and Graphic 45.

I brought some of the new digi images with me on my recent vacation and colored them while enjoying balmy breezes sitting pool side under the palms. I'm in the process of finishing the cards, so check back later today and this weekend to see them!

Thanks for visiting today!

I'm a Guest Blogger!

Today I'm "Guest Blogging" for the talented Tiffany, who is in the process of moving cross-country again! We really do need to support our military families who sacrifice so much to serve our country.

Not only is Tiffany seriously talented, she's exceedingly generous as well. She's going to give away a $100 gift certificate to Two Peas in a Bucket, plus some other gifts too. Here's the link so you can read about these wonderful offers!

Anyway, here's my Thanksgiving card.


The card features the adorable penguins from the Gobble It Up set by The Cat's Pajamas. The penguins, domed cloche, pie, and sentiment are from that set. The bread basket is from the Kitchen Classics set by Crafty Secrets.

The entire scene was stamped in Memento ink, then colored with Copic markers. The cloche, turkey, penguin bills, and penguin feet were coated with a layer of embossing powder to add dimension and shine. There was a whole lotta masking involved to get that turkey on the table and to add the sponged background! I also used the long rectangle Nestabilities from Spellbinders to both cut and mask the image. All of the homey patterned paper is from the Domestic Goddess pad by Graphic 45. Love! As usual, I sponged Distress Ink (Old Paper, Antique Linen, Barn Door, and Faded Jeans) to the edges of the patterned paper. The sentiment was stamped on a QuicKutz die cut tag and enhanced with a whole mess of pearls!

Thanks for visiting today!

On Vacation!

Sunny and warm with balmy breezes. Alas no cabana boys! ;)

I do have stamping stuff with me, but no camera.

See you all next week!

It's Third Coast Thursday!

The cat is called Feed Me and I sure hope that he's not planning on eating the fairy, which is called Butterfly Ride. Both stamps are by Third Coast Stamps.

They were stamped with Memento ink on white cardsotck and colored with Copic markers. The sky and the grass were created with palette chalk and chalk pencils. "Hello" is an Odd Bird Planet stamp.. The patterned papers are by Fancy Pants.

Thanks for visiting!

A Pre-Empted Card!

My Technique Tuesday Tuesday card was postponed by The Day of the Dead! However, I did start to make it on Tuesday and finished it Wednesday evening after the SCS Sketch of the Week (#305) was posted.

Here it is!


The flowers, vase, and sentiment are from the Long Stemmed Sentiment set by Technique Tuesday. It's a useful set. I especially like that the vase looks okay either way. I stamped on my dwindling supply of Prism white cardstock, which is slightly textured. I used my new Derwent Inktense pencils to color the image and am moderately pleased with the way it came out. I have a feeling that these new pencils will see a lot of use.

Thanks for visiting today.

Day of the Dead

It's The Day of the Dead (click to find out more about the holiday), so I decided to break out my Señora Muerte set by Bombshell Stamps and create a card.



La Señora was colored with Copic markers. The patterned papers are from the Boxer 6x6 pad by Basic Grey. I used two sets of Nestabilities and a Spellbinders border die, plus Martha's Spider Web Around-the-Page punch set.

Thanks for visiting today!

Bombshell's Nov. Sketch + Happy Birthday Shannon!!!

Happy Birthday Shannon! Shannon is the Bombshell Stamps Queen!!! She's a terrific person, a great boss, and a good friend! So, I made her a card using November '10's sketch!!!

Here's the sketch!



Here's her card!


Her card (which I will mail to her eventually) uses Bombshell's Man's Ruin set with the new and fabulous Banner Sayings set. I know those banners are going to be seeing a LOT of ink!!!

The image was colored with Copic markers. I added several layers of embossing powder over the glass and the small glass. I tilted the card so that the embossed glass would be visible in the photo. Some glittery sparkle was added to the small martini glass with a Sakura marker. The sentiment was shaded with a bit of Copic marker and then cut out.

Feel free to use your Bombshell Stamps and the sketch to create some projects. We'd love if you'd share them over at the Bombshell Forum or at Bombshell Stamps' new blog!

Thanks for visiting today!