Sheba the Catgoyle -- a friend in a high place

Here's Sheba, a digital stamp by Smeared Ink. She's a very lovely catgoyle, who hangs out on tall buildings and is the queen of all she surveys.



Sheba, her alcove, and her her building (overlooking Paris) were colored with Toner Grey Copic markers. The alcove was drawn in with a template from Fairy Tale Creations. The "stones" were created with the Copic aibrush system and my beloved Bricks template from The Crafter's Workshop. Love their stencils, and this one has gotten a lot of use!

The grey base level gray cardstock is textured and looks kind of stone-like (stoned? stony?). I used a Paper Shaper corner punch and also used a Borderabilities die by Spellbinders. I sponged silvery black Brilliance ink over the die, so that border strip looks metallic, though you could never tell from the photo.

Thanks for visiting today!

This card will be entered in the following challenges:
• Craft Your Passion: Monochromatic challenge
• Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes
• Outlaws Promarker/Copic Friday: Anything Goes

Bombshell Hump Day Hop

Alison, our Hump Day Hop Captain, has set this month's challenge as a color challenge.

Here's the palette:



Here's my take on it.


I used the pin-up from the Bombshell Angel set and the bird from Hula Girl set for this card. The Pin-up and bird were colored with Copic markers. The bird's beak and eye were touched with Glaze pen.

I added bunny ears that were die cut using an old QuicKutz die from fuzzy white paper from my scraps stash. I colored the interior of the ear pink using Copics. The basket and the flourish on the sentiment are both QuicKutz dies too! The basket was touched up using chalks.

The patterned papers are a combo of MME (sky) and Memory Box stripes. I messed up one of the layers of the "ground" by edging with the wrong color marker. Her headband holding the ears should be higher up too. Oopsy. That's what happens when you rush I guess.

The sentiment is computer generated and reveals my wacky sense of humor.

Thanks for visiting today!

Just in case you got lost, here's the Hop List!
Bombshell Blog
Alison
Laura
Etsy Ketsy
Kelli
Mary G.
Alaine
Glittery Katie

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
• Outlawz Promarker/Copic Friday's Easter challenge
• Splitcoast "You Have Me in Stitches" challenge

Easter Surprise!!! Variations on a theme!

I've done this sort of card before where something unexpected comes out of an Easter egg.

Here's my really brightly colored card:



Here's a close-up:

This time, I felt like using some of my poor neglected Memory Box Penguins. They used to have a dozen or so differently attired penguins, but have discontinued some of them. This makes me sad since I adore these funny penguin stamps!

This is the retired Carmen Miranda penguin who freakin' cracks me up. She cracked up that egg too! The egg, quote bubble, and a thin strip were punched, die-cut, and cut from a left over piece of serigraph technique cardstock that I used for this card. The cardstock was stamped using Bombshell's Butterfly Queen set.

Carmen was colored with Copic markers. Clear Glaze pen was used on her beak and feet. I colored the "ice" with C0 Copic marker, added Sakura Glitter pen, and then put Clear Glaze pen over that to make it look sparkly and icy.

The punched egg was cut using decorative scissors that I dug out from a bottom drawer. I can't remember the last time I used them! I outlined it with a combo of Copic markers and Sharpies. The Sharpie pen worked better over the white embossed images. I then coated the egg with Glaze marker and shaped it to make it more 3D.

The small sentiment is from Paper Trey's Mixed Messages set, which is infinitely useful since the sentiments are tiny!

The patterned papers are from MME Everyday Tango and Basic Grey!

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
• Outlawz Promarker/Copic Friday's Easter challenge
• Splitcoast "You Have Me in Stitches" challenge

Looking through a window!

When I first got the Grand Madison Window die by Poppy Stamps/Memory Box, I thought that this particular stamp, Two Cats on a Lounge Chair by Purrs & Pants would work fabulously with it. I think I was right! What's better is that I have several other P&P stamps that would work with that window die too! Yay! I must say that I love this window and can't wait to get the shutters die and the smaller window die.

I finally got a chance to play and this is what happened!



Close-up of inside spread"


Close-up of stamped image:

First I stamped and colored the scene with Copic markers. I soon realized that the entire stamp would not show through the window, but I was cool with that. Then I had a "Eureka moment" and figured out that if I had the outside of the scene on the outside of the card and the inside of the scene on the inside spread of the card, I could include the entire stamped image. So I went for it.

I used my Martha Stewart Score Board to create the "siding" then used very-old, verging on ancient Chatterbox patterned paper for the blue "walls" on the interior scene/inside of card.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
• Simon Says Stamp Handmade Background challenge (the house wall/window)

Card for Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #154

Procrastination should be my middle name. Mom's birthday is Saturday AND the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge ends at 8:00 p.m. PDT tonight! So, I finally got out my poor neglected TE stamps and had a go at the sketch.

Here's the sketch:


Here's my take on the sketch:


I stayed fairly true to the sketch and only added a pinked circle and a sentiment to it. The bouquet of posies is from Taylored Expressions Fresh Flowers set. It was colored with Copic markers, which were chosen to match the papers from Two Scoops by Basic Grey (old 6x6 pad from my "store"). Distress Inks (Sage & Weathered Wood were added to color all edges as I can NOT abide white edges!!!

The rhinestones were colored with R24 to be matchy-matchy with the posies. Spica silver glitter pen was used for the bouquet's string. One nice thing about using pinked circles is that they make gem placement easy-peasy.

The sentiment is from Savvy Stamps. I adore their fonts and especially like that they're small and can fit into compact places. :D

Thanks for visiting today!!!

Spring is here!

It's been wonderfully warm in the NY Metro area and the trees are all abloom. Beauty pervades.

I've been giving my new Poppy Stamps' Grand Madison Window die some play time and wanted to create a spring scene as seen through a window.

Here it is!


Close up:


Third Coast's Blossoming Tree (BD-035-P) from p. 14 of the Spring '07 supplement, was just perfect for this as it had a flowering tree, a bunny, and a squirrel! The stamp was inked with Memento ink using a brayer because it's too big to ink with just the inkpad! I had to use my biggest acrylic block also!!! The image (tree, bunny, squirrel) were colored with Copic markers. The grass and sky were colored with Copics using the dotted background technique. I added a touch of Glaze pens for the critters' eyes and added some white flock for the bunny's tail! The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Sultry 6x6 pad.

I used glossy white cardstock to die cut the window. I also used it to create the "bead board" below/under the window. I used my Martha Stewart Scoreboard to create the bead board.

Thanks for looking today!
• Crafts n Me "Spring Color Challenge"
• Celebrate the Occasion: "Celebrate Spring" challenge
• Creative Craft Friends: "Spring"

Layer it up with Smudgy Antics

The challenge this week over at the Smudgy Antics Challenge Blog is to "Layer it up!" I decided to use Seriba again for this challenge.

Here it is:


The first thing I did was to color Seriba using mostly cool gray Copic markers with a touch of silver Metallic Pentel pens on her chains and Glaze pens on her wand.

Then I grabbed a piece of textured gray cardstock and my Chicken-wire and Punchinella stencil by The Crafter's Workshop. I sponged Black Soot and Worn Lipstick Distress ink over the large Chicken-wire stencil first. Then when that dried, I went back and layered the small chicken-wire pattern of the Punchinella stencil and sponged more ink on. I had one more go sponging ink over the star pattern of the Punchinella stencils to create a visual triangle. Then I gave the whole thing several spritzes with a Pearl Perfect Pearl mister, which blended the ink a bit and left a nice shimmery finish. I left it to flatten out under a stack of books.

Some silver accents were needed so I created a photo mat from pink and gray cardstock and added silver eyelets. I found some wonderful black and silver ribbon and threaded it through the eyelets and the sentiment (from The Fairy Fantasy unmounted rubber sheet by the Enchanted Garden) piece.

The sponged patterned glimmery gray cardstock was torn and silver mesh was layered over black cardstock between the two pieces. Then Seriba's panel and the sentiment panel were added.

A flower rhinestone and a trio of star rhinestones were added because the card needed some bling!

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this in the following challenge(s):
• Simon Says Stamp & Show: "Create your own background"

Happy St. Paddy's Day #2

'cause this still makes me giggle, I figured why not repost?

*****
This card shows my warped-adolescent-boy sense of humor.




I created a similar card last year (click HERE) for St. Patrick's Day, but after I made the banner, I thought to myself, "Self, Lady Luck likes to celebrate St. Paddy's Day in her own free way. You should have made the sentiment read "Erin Goes Braless". So I did this year.

Lady Luck is a Bombshell Stamp set that is way fun with that cool Lady Luck image, an eight-ball, a clover, a martini, and a bunch of other great lucky tokens. Check it out.

The focal image was colored with Copic markers. Glaze pen was used to touch up her earrings, hair horseshoe, and the wrench. (I don't understand the wrench, but that's life.) I masked off the sentiment from the banner, colored it with Copic markers, fussy cut it, added Doodlebug rub-ons, and popped it up on dimensionals. The rest of the sentiment is from a Cat's Pajamas set and an Impression Obsession set. Gemstones were used for an ellipsis (...). I colored them with Copics so everything is all matchy-matchy to please my inner Virgo control freak. The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Origins 6x6 pad.

Thanks for visiting today!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Are you wearing green?



The card above was submitted somewhere and rejected, so it's fair game to be shown on my blog. Taylored Expressions Wreaths of Luck was used together with the beer mug from the Chillax set.

The images were colored with Copic markers. The beer mug was heat embossed to make it shiny and dimensional. The solid and dotted cardstock is from Bo-Bunny.

Thanks for looking and have a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Bombshell Sketch Challenge -- "She swims with the fishes"

As you know, I create the sketches for the monthly sketch challenge over at Bombshell Stamps. Feel free to use this sketch, but if you do use it and use your Bombshell Stamps with it, please share it over on the Bombshell Forum or on Bombshell's Blog. You never know, you might win a prize (your choice of a free set of stamps)!


Here's the sketch:


Here's my take on it, flipped 90°.


Here's a close-up to see the no-black mermaid!


I experimented again with the no-black coloring method, this time using a person -- well, a mermaid, specifically, the mermaid from the Mermaid Treasure set.

She was stamped using Memento's Desert Sand ink, then colored with Copic markers. When I was done, I masked her with Winsor & Newton masking fluid, die cut her with a Nestabilities long oval die, kept her in the die, and airbrushed using the Copic airbrush system. The mask was peeled off and I touched up the image with Prismacolor pencils. The patterned papers are from the Tropical Travelogue 8x8 pad by Graphic 45. I thought the fish paper was perfect for this image and loved having her "swim with the fishes". Pale blue "Rain Dots" were colored with the B26 Copic marker to show up a bit better.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
• Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge

Birthday Wishes Card for Smeared & Smudged

Here's another card for my stint as a guest designer over at Smeared & Smudged.

It features Seriba, one of the digital Goth Fairies from Smeared Ink. She's available alone or part of a set.

Here's the card:


I decided not to go terribly Goth, except perhaps for her green hair. She was colored with Copic markers. Glitter pens from Sakura were used on her wings and to edge the die cuts. The patterned paper is from the Sugar Rush 6x6 pad by Basic Grey. It has papers that matched the B60s series of Copic markers, which are one of my favorites!

The sentiment stamp is from Savvy Stamps. I love their fonts.

Thanks for visiting today.

This card shall be entered in the following challenges:
• Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge.
• Outlawz Monday Greetings: "Anything Goes" challenge

Experiment! No black lines Copic coloring.

I've been very taken with the projects that I've seen online that use the "No black lines" Copic coloring technique. I saw a killer tutorial over on Lime Tart's blog.

I had only seen people colored this way, so being me, I decided to try this technique using one of my most favorite Bombshell Stamps, the ship from the Homeward Bound set.

Here it is!


I'll definitely be trying this technique again (in fact I have a project on my desk), with some modifications. First off, I need some full sized Memento inkpads since the small pads were a pita for this usage.

So, I stamped using London Fog Memento ink. The gray was a bit too dark, but I worked around it and made the sails gray and the clouds purple 'n pink using BV23, 20, and RV0000. I wasn't happy with the clouds, but it was late so I went to bed. The next morning I looked at it with new eyes and decided to keep going, so I did and am moderately pleased with it. The running lights and brightwork on the ship were touched with Glaze pen for dimension and shine and I used an Inkssentials White pen for the whitecaps/foam on the sea.

The map/compass Kraft paper is from the Ideology Kraft Resist stack. Love that stuff. I made a small sailor's knot using hemp twine and called it done. I will likely add a sentiment on a tag when I decide the recipient and occasion.

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges:
• Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge.
• Always Crafting "Anything Goes" challenge.
• Make it Monday: "Anything Goes"

Bombshell sponsors CPS Sketch #356!

Bombshell Stamps is this week's sponsor for CPS's Sketch #356 Challenge! Play along with their sketch and you can win a nice prize from Bombshell Stamps!

Here's their sketch:


Here's my take on the sketch!

As you can see, I flipped the sketch 90° because it worked better for the stamps that I wanted to use, which were the Classic Coupe and the "King of the Road Banner from the King of the Road set.

All images were colored with Copic markers. I'm not a big user of green as the main color of a card, but it is March and March is green! I used a mix of YG & G series markers and am pleased with the way it came out! The "sky" was sponged with Memento ink and the "road" was sponged with my beloved Black Soot Distress Ink.

The map is a real out-of-date map that had gotten semi-trashed with a coffee incident. I rescued it and upcycled. Yay.

Feel free to play along with this sketch and then share it with us. You never know if your work will be spotted by our Roving Prize Patrol reporter!!!

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges:
• Outlawz Promarker/Copic "St Patrick's Day/Green" challenge
• Craft Your Passion "Anything Goes" challenge

Now for something completely different!

I was pleased to be asked to be Smeared & Smudged's Guest Designer for March. As the Guest Designer, I needed to set a challenge. I was feeling Steampunky, but it's March, which means that St. Patrick's Day is coming up. That means Green. Green also means recycling! So, here's what I came up with!




Close up of the Grumpie:


Close up of the forest for the trees:


This is not what I envisioned when I set out to Steampunk my Grumpie. I knew that I wanted to use my Alterations Gears die and somehow they turned into trees. The card then took on a life of its own and became a "nature scene" of sorts with proportionally mismatched elements. I can't decide whether it is juvenile or insane or both.

The Grumpie from Smeared Ink's Lil Grumpies set was colored with Copics, then cut out. I used a stylus on the back of him to make him puffy. Then I added a bunch of watch parts, gears, and gemstones.

The gear trees, birds, birdhouse, cat, wings, and banner were die cut from a lasagna pan that was unusable and in the recycle bin. The gears are Alterations by Sizzix. All other dies are from QuicKutz. The cat is an old punch. If you're trying this at home, remember that cut metal is sharp and has sharp edges that puncture flesh!

The bird, trees, and cat were colored with alcohol ink and heat embossed, which surprisingly made the metal hot enough to burn.

All metal parts were shaped the same way Grumpie was, with a stylus on the reverse. The roof of the house was embossed with an old QuicKutz folder. The birds and birdhouse. The cat has a yellow eye thanks to a Sakura Glaze pen. The bird and birdhouse have watch parts on them too.

Yeah. That's it. Actually, it's not. This was freaking difficult to photograph since it's so shiny. If I get a chance, I'll take it outside for a photoshoot. If not, not.

Now I'm really done. Really!

Thanks for visiting today.

"Stuff Happens!" -- Kraftin' Kimmie Sketch Challenge

It's no secret that I love Drucilla by Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps. She makes me smile and totally appeals to me on so many levels. I love her facial expression -- innocence mixed a touch of malicious glee!

Here's the sketch:


Here's my take on it!


I colored Drucilla with Copic markers so that she'd match the patterned papers from the Material Girl 6x6 pad by Cosmo Cricket. I airbrushed the background with my new BG90, but was having a bit of technical difficulties, which resulted in some splotches and mottling. I put together the card, popped the stamped die cut up onto dimensionals and then realized that "Oops! I forgot to add the rub-on sentiment." So I added it and it came out crooked and wonky. Oh well. Perfection is overrated.

BTW, the rub-on is from Wordsworth. I thought it works well with the stamp, though I still love "Karma's Helper" as a sentiment.

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
• Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog: Challenge #117 Sketch
• Simon Says Challenge Blog: Anything Goes

Howdy!

I had a few stamped and embossed Sheriff Pin-Up images left from my Wonder Woman card, so I decided to use them. I followed a sketch from the Outlawz.

Here's the sketch:


Here's my take on it! (I did flip it 90°.)


I colored the Sheriff Pin-Up from the Retro Cowgirls set by Bombshell Stamps with my Copic markers.

The patterned papers are from the Lost & Found Portobello Road 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye. The patterned paper that I used for the die cut and for the rectangles was just perfect since it had horseshoe/spur thingies on it. (Can you tell that I'm not a rider?). The rectangles were heat embossed with several layers of embossing powder to make them look like tiles.

All edges were edged with seasonal Spruce Distress ink. The strip of patterned paper under the die cut was stamped with a Hero Arts Thank You stamp using Old Paper Distress Ink. I wanted a text stamp and that was the closest at hand!

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
• Outlaws Wednesday, February 29 Sketch challenge
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog's Anything Goes challenge

For S---s & Giggles sake...

I feel like a genius because I created a layout in 2004 using a technique similar to The Tim's March Tag Technique ! He's my hero, so I'm feeling very smug at the mo. *giggle*

Check it!


Mine has scraps of beloved Basic Grey patterned paper cut into linear pieces, adhered to a Xyron covered piece of cardstock, rust Antiquities Embossing powder, but no Glossy Accents.