Friday, April 27, 2012

FLY!

This card was actually started for last week's Outlawz Copic marker Friday challenge, which was "Magic", but I sort of ran out of time. Oh well. Fortunately, this week's challenge is "Anything goes!" Gotta love those kind of challenges. It's also a fairly CAS card for me, but sometimes less really IS more.


Yep. It's another card using my beloved Grand Madison Window die from Poppy Stamps/Memory Box. This time I used Third Coast's Blossoming Tree (BD-035-P) from p. 14 of the Spring '07 supplement and Kitty Angel (AP-172-D) from page 24 of the Summer '05 supplement. Both the tree and the cat were colored with Copic markers, masked with Winsor & Newton Liquid Mask, and the background sky was airbrushed over scallop packaging material. The mask was peeled off and the cat's wings were painted with Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium to make 'em sparkle. BTW, I discovered that E02, E01, and E00 work remarkably well for marmalade cats.

Grand Madison Window was die cut from white cardstock. I cut out the bottom pane so it would look as if the cat had launched from her perch upon the window sill, spread her wings, and flew into the beautiful spring day. I added a little trail, but being a dope, I did it after it was securely in the window frame. *sigh*

The top part of the window has ink jet transparency film backing it and the entire window is popped using dimensional adhesive foam. The patterned paper is also from Memory Box. I die cut the word "FLY" using mini Indigo QuicKutz dies, colored 'em with Copic markers, then adhered them to a scored vellum strip. The sentiment "spread your wings" is from the late, lamented Odd Bird Planet and was stamped with StazOn. I do love that almond scent!!!

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges.
• Outlawz/Promarker Friday "Anything Goes" challenge
Simon Says Stamp Challenge "Word" challenge
• Simon Says: "Anything Goes" challenge

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Homage to Bettie Page 2.0

Greetings! Yep. Two cards, one challenge, one day. Am I a superstar or what?

My answer would be "What"!

I had planned to get this one finished for today's hop, but the best laid plans of mice and Kathi, are often undone.

So here it is!

This time I used the Cherry Girl stamp from the Cherry Bomb set by Bombshell Stamps. I used my indispensable Removable Scotch Tape to mask off the cherry, some of her curls, and part of her shoulders. Then I stamped the image, re-drew the shoulders/back and added straight hair and bangs because Bettie was known for her bangs (as well as her amazing figure). She was colored with Copic markers. The sand was added with the dotty Copic technique and the sky was airbrushed over scallops using a custom marker (less-than B21).

I grabbed some Kraft cardstock, pulled out the Punchinella and Flames stencils from The Crafter's Workshop, available at Susana's Custom Stamp & Art. First I used my Martha Stewart Scoring Tool and put in three vertical lines. I positioned T!m's Clocks Alterations folder up to the one of the score lines and ran the cardstock through my Big Kick and rubbed some Black Soot Distress Ink over the embossed bits. Then I used my Punchinella stars to sponge Frayed Burlap Distress Ink over the embossed clock faces. I sponged Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress inks over the Flames stencil.

When that was done, I used old black Classic Photo Corners Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L to adhere the Bettie-esq piece. I added two Ideology Film Strip Ribbon to the piece using my Tiny T!m Attacher. An old 7 Gypsies sticker as added to two QuicKutz spiky circle diecuts. This was added to over the bottom Film Strip Ribbon. Old Flair Rub-ons were used to add "Bettie" to the film strip ribbon running vertically along the left side. It would have been much easier to do the rub-ons before I stapled the film ribbon, but it worked.

Thanks for visiting again today!

Oh! If you haven't checked out today's Bombshell Stamps Hump Day Hop -- Homage to Bettie Page, you ought to do so now!!! I promise you that you will be inspired.


Here's the Hop List again!
Bombshell Blog
Alison
Kelli
Mary G.
Laura
Susie
Rachael (Etsy Ketsy)
Jennie
Jodi
Emily
Torrey
Kim
Alaine
Teresa
Stempelientje
Mary (Sparkly Engineer)

I shall enter this in the following challenge(s):
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: "Anything Goes" Their store carries Bombshell Stamps!!!

Bombshell's Hump Day Hop! Homage to Bettie Page!

You should have gotten here from Mary's (Sparkly Engineer) Blog!

Alison, our lovely, talented, teal-tressed Hump Day Hop Captain, has declared April's Hump Day Hop to be an Homage to Bettie Page!

On April 22, 1923, a star was born. A star that we all know. A star that, without her, Bombshell Stamps may not even exist (if I may be so presumptuous). Who is it? None other than Bettie Page.

What better month to pay homage to the Pin-Up Queen herself than the month of her birth?

So for this hop, I want you to give Ms. Page some love. Make a project, any type of project, using her as inspiration. There are thousands of images to view, lots of quotes she has said, and others have said about her. Want some inspiration right now? Check out Bettie Page's official site: http://www.bettiepage.com/index.html

Here's my take on the challenge:


The Poison Girl stamp from the Sugar Daddy set has been transformed into Bettie's visage with the assistance of a little repositionable Scotch Tape. She was colored with Copic markers (list below) and punched into a circle, which was layered onto a Nestabilities Pinked Circle.

The patterned paper is from the Curtain Call 8x8 pad by Graphic 45. I cut an aperture, layered plush leopard material (source unknown) into the opening, then added the circle "Bettie" together with some glittery red alpha stickers, spelling out her name.

The film projector was "fussy cut", then adhered to some stripey paper which had been stenciled with The Crafters Workshop Flames & Clocks stencils and Distress Ink.

The Finger Point was stamped and colored with Copic markers. Bad Girl texts were stamped above and below the hand with the assistance of my very indispensable Scotch Repositionable Tape. The hand and text stamps are from the Cherry Bomb set. Bombshell Text from the Man's Ruin set was stamped, the crown from the King of the Road set was added and colored with Copics and Sakura Sparkle pens. The broken heart from the Man's Ruin set was stamped with Crimson Red VersaFine ink. Then both of these rectangles were adhered inside a very, very, very old acetate film strip by Creative Imaginations using red-liner tape.

I put the card together and decided it was missing something, so I diecut some stars from gold cardstock, punched holes in them, ran 'em through my Xyron, and added red Art Institute Glitter and some gold twine, to be symbolic of some of the more risqué Bettie Page movies.

I did make a mistake, which I realized right after I adhered, but I can live with it. What do you think it is?

Thanks for visiting today and checking out the blog hop! Just in case you got lost along your way or want to do it again, here's the list!

Here's the Hop List!
Bombshell Blog
Alison
Kelli
Mary G.
Laura
Susie
Rachael (Etsy Ketsy)
Jennie
Jodi
Emily
Torrey
Kim
Alaine
Teresa
Stempelientje
Mary (Sparkly Engineer)
,

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Happy Earth Day!

It's Earth Day and I felt like making an ATC.


Mother Earth is from The Enchanted Gallery's Nature Spirit and Domino Art set and the earth and sentiment are from the Recycle unmounted set.. Both Mother Earth and the Earth were colored with Copic markers.

The text paper is from a recycled Roget's Thesaurus, dating from my high school days. It was ruined by that bwitch Irene, but I kept it to use for art projects! I pulled the page containing the words "conserve" and "conservation". I crumpled it up, then inked it with Stormy Sky & Chipped Sapphire Distress inks, spritzed 'em with water, and heat set. The text paper was adhered with Ranger's Multi Medium, which worked like gangbusters!

The sentiment was stamped with Crimson Red VersaFine ink, then heat embossed with clear detail embossing powder. I colored the heart with Copic markers and touched up the sentiment with extra fine point Sharpie marker.

The Copics I used:
Skin: E50, YR000, YR0000, R11, BV23, BV0000
Hair: C1, C4, C6, C7, C8
Eyes: B12, B14
Roses: R22, R24, R27
Earth: B2, B4, B6 and G40, 43, 46
Background: custom less-than B21, B21, B23

Thanks for visiting today!


Saturday, April 21, 2012

Building the card stash: Birthday

I don't know about you, but whenever I need a birthday card, I don't have one that works for the recipient. That's odd considering that I probably have a few thousand handmade cards filed in various places. So, I'm building my stash of birthday and thank you cards since those are the ones I need most frequently.

I decided to take a bunch of challenges with this card. I took Outlawz Monday Greetings "Distressed" challenge, plus used I used this week's sketch from the Outlaws Wednesday Challenge Group

Here's the sketch:


Here's my take on the sketch:



I used Garden Eyes by Susana's Custom Art. I won her so I'm bound and determined to use her often. Besides, she's fun to color. I love those eyes!!! She was colored with Copic markers (list to follow). Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium was used on her wings. I masked her with Eclipse tape, then airbrushed BG90, BG93, BG72, and a touch of Y000 over her.

The big honkin' flower was die cut from white metallic paper using old Boss Kut dies. I inked 'em with Rose Red and Angel Pink Memento ink, shaped them with a stylus, then stacked them. The swirls are that same metallic paper cut with QuicKutz dies that I colored with BG53. The leaves were punched from the same paper and then colored with YG23. Note: when you ink white metallic paper, it retains its shimmer!

Patterned papers from Basic Grey's 6x6 Lemonade papers were used for the card. The edges were distressed with the TH Tonic Distressing tool, then sponged with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink, which was also used on the reverse of the paper for that rolled edge.

The sentiment is from the Mixed Messages set by Paper Trey Ink and was stamped on a tiny tag by QuicKutz.

Copic Markers used:
Skin: E50, YR000, YR0000, R11
Hair: E51, E53, YR30, YR31, Y000
Eyes: YG21, YG23
Shirt: Y11, Y00; BG53,57, YG21, 23, 25
Pants and Shoes: R81, 83
Wings: Custom Less Than R81, R83.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges.
Outlawz Monday Greetings "Distressed" challenge
Outlaws Wednesday Challenge Group
Simon Says "Anything Goes"
iCopic Lovers Challenge #78 "Spring Colors"
Oozak Challenges "Anything Goes"

Friday, April 20, 2012

"From our home"... or the one that got away!

Have you ever had a project take over and go from being a simple card to one that keeps adding elements to itself? Every now and then that happens to me.

Outside:


Inside:


I had discovered that the Grand Madison Die by Poppy Stamps/Memory Box is a bit large for some of my ideas, so I recently treated myself to the small Madison Window die and shutters, plus some other Memory Box dies. These dies are very popular and as such, they're tough to find! But I got lucky since they were in stock at Susana's Custom Art & Card Designs.

Here's my first card using the smaller dies. I riffed on an earlier card of mine where I showed both the view from the outside looking in on the outside of the card and the interior scene on the inside of the card. This time, I did a view looking out to what one might see if one lived across the street from an über-cute row of shops, such as those in Happy Town, a stamp by Victoria Case for SCACD.

First I stamped Happy Town and colored it with Copic markers. I used a dotty dotting technique for the trees, sky, and sidewalk. The windows were coated with a layer of clear Stardust pen and then a layer of clear Glaze pen. I die cut and matted the stamped scene using Nestabilities.

Then I set out to construct the card. First I die cut the window four times from white cardstock and put them aside. Kraft cardstock was used for the base layer of the card. The patterned paper on the front is from a Haunted pad by MME. Of course, by the time I got done adding stuff, you can barely see it! Anyways, I found some ribby white cardstock, cut it to become "beadboard" and adhered it to the white-on-Kraft patterned paper and cut it to size. It was edged with Ranger's Picket Fence Dabber to make it show a bit more. Then it was adhered to the card front.

Taking inspiration from my dining room windows that are two windows next to each other, I put the two window die cuts together and measured them, did some icky math*, then cut the aperture through the card's front.

I opened up the card and taped my handy-dandy Bricks stencil from The Crafters Workshops to it and dabbed on Picket Fence Paint.

While it was drying, I cut a piece of ink jet transparency to become the window. I then adhered that to the card front, added the window die cuts, and a small strip of white cardstock to cover the seam. The same process was done to the inside of the card.

I positioned the stamped image where I wanted it and then thought to myself, "Self, this looks weird. The window looks lonely up there." So I added gray shutters, a window box, Jolie's flowers (from an EK Success warehouse sale), a tree branch, and punched flowers.

Then I closed the card and said, "Self. The front is too plain." So, I puttered around with papers, crepe paper, and a bunch of other stuff before finding a very, very old MM metal strippy thing that I turned into a curtain rod. But then I couldn't find ribbon that made me happy. So I had to go prospecting through all the ribbbon I've got and found sheer blue ribbon. I hung the curtains, added tiebacks (narrow silver ribbon) and covered up the patterned Kraft paper. Then I said to myself, "Self. You need a sentiment to break up all that white from the "beadboard" and "window frames". So I computer generated a sentiment, die cut it, embossed it even more using a stylus, dottied it up with Copics, then outlined it with Prismacolors.

The card finally declared itself to be done. Now I just need to find someone who would appreciate it. :D

BTW, this card took a while to finish. *rolleyes*

*My grade school teachers were right. I really did need to learn about fractions.

Thanks for reading all this and for visiting today.

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says "Anything Goes"
Craft Your Passion #106 "Diecuts"
iCopic Lovers Challenge #78 "Spring Colors"
Oozak Challenges "Anything Goes"
Fussy & Fancy Challenge #61: Punches & Dies

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Be Extraordinary!

I recently treated myself to a few Kraftin' Kimmie stamps and some wonderful new stencils from The Crafter's Workshop, which I found at Susana's Custom Art store!

I decided to play along with the Monday Greetings Challenge over at the Outlawz. The challenge was to use something using the first letter of your first name. I was flummoxed at first, then realized that I could use Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps! :D

I then realized that I could have used one of my 3,013,739,013 kitty stamps. Oh well.

Here's my first card using Mizuki and the new Bamboo stencil.



I colored Mizuki using Copic markers and some Glossy Accents over the skulls.

I used:
Face -- E50, YR000, and R11
Kimono -- G40, G21, G24, G28
Obi -- RV52, 55
Hair was colored with C3, C6, C7, C8.
Background: BG11, RV000, V000
Ground: C2, C1, C0
Skulls: T2, T0

I airbrushed G24 and G28 over the Bamboo stencil which I had taped to light green cardstock. While it was still taped, I ran the piece through my Big Shot to emboss it. If you look carefully, you can see where a crease formed in the upper left.

The sentiment is from an old set called Tiny Wise Words by Rubber Soul/Wordsworth.

BTW, this isn't quite as bright irl and the rhinestone gems are not screaming neon. They're a nice fuschia. *sigh*

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall enter this in the following challenge(s):
Outlawz Greetings Monday: Must start with the first letter of your name.
Oozak "Anything Goes" challenge

I had planned to enter this in the Kraftin' Challenge last week, but time got the best of me, as it often does. Ah well.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Take care of our home!

It's April, which means that spring is in full swing, the grass is green, the trees are abloom, and the birds are in breeding plumage. All these are Mother Nature's way of showing us Earth's beauty and to remind us to take care of our planet.

I decided to play along with a few challenges, such as One Sweet Challenge's April challenge to re-use, recycle, or up-cycle using a Sweet Pea Image.

I opted to use this fabulous sketch from Card Patterns. Sketches are great because they take away some of the brain work and my brain can always use a break! :D

Card Patterns Sketch #160:


My recycled/upcycled item was a paperback Roget's Thesaurus that fell victim to Hurricane Irene. I was able to dry it out. I tried to find the word "recycling" in there. No such term!!! Check out that price too!


My card:


Close-up of the flowers:


Here are the details.

I colored ching-chou kuik's Fairy of the Night (on sale for $2.00 @ Sweet Pea Stamps) using Copic markers. A bit of Spica glitter pen was used on her necklace and facial tattoos. I stole an idea from myself and made the ball held by the fairy into the Earth. Since I diecut a rectangular image with an oval, I had to extend some of the dotted lines, which I did with my new Copic Multi-liner.

The patterned papers are from the Gertie 6x6 pad from the Stella & Rose collection by MME. Lately, I'm loving MME. Totally!!!

When Irene came a callin' last September, she flooded my basement. A very old paperback Roget's Thesaurus was among the injured. Fortunately, I was able to dry her out, but the spine was shot and the pages were badly yellowed. There's a photo above that shows just how old that copy was. It cost 95¢!!! Anyways, I kept her because I figured she'd work just fine for papercrafting!!! So, the flowers were punched from her pages, colored with Copics, sewed together with a button, and sprayed with Perfect Pearls Pearl mist for some shine.

The sentiment is from The Enchanted Gallery's Recycling unmounted sheet.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
One Sweet Challenge -- April "Recycling"
Card Patterns #160 Sketch
Outlawz Copic/Promarker Fridays "Inspired by Nature"
Oozak "Anything Goes" challenge

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

April Bombshell Sketch Challenge!

The first time I laid my eyes upon Pimpin' Wolf from Bombshell's Sugar Daddy set, ZZ Top's song,Sharp-Dressed Man, popped into my head. So I decided to use that as my sentiment. The card will be either a Father's Day card for my husband or a birthday card for some male in my life!

Bombshell Stamps April Sketch!


Here's my take on the sketch:


Here's the close-up that shows the gloss on his shoes (though it distorts the heck out of the image and messes up the color)!


Pimpin' Wolf, his official name, was colored with Copic markers. I decided to play with both the Cool and Warm Grays, using the Warm Gray series for his fur and the Cool Grays for his suit. I added a layer of clear Glaze pen to his shoes, buttons, cufflinks, eyes, and teeth. Sadly, they're not showing real well, so there's a detail photo for you.

The patterned papers are all black and white and are from Pink Paisleee (houndstooth), My Mind's Eye (other three). The Baker's Twine was colored with my Copic marker to match his shirt. Square rhinestone brads were used on the sentiment nameplate, which was popped up in a curve (middle raised, ends glued to the card).

Why not play along with our sketch challenge and share your card on Bombshell's Blog or on this thread on Bombshell's Forum? You could be randomly selected to win your choice of a free set?

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall enter this one into the following challenge(s):
Deep Ocean Challenge Blog, "Inspired by a Song"

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Thank you!

I recently won blog candy from SCACD but the prize stamp was a surprise! The stamp arrived on Monday and I was delighted to receive Garden Eyes, which is from Susana Loves Stamps fabulous new Eyes of Beauty and Dreams Collection.

Here's my first card with her, using SCS Sketch #378!


I pulled out my Copic markers and started coloring her face. It came out a bit darker than I would have liked, so I gave her black hair instead of the blonde I had planned. Since it's spring and the trees are beginning to sport their YG colors*, I found some favorite older Memory Box Enchanted papers and took my palette from them. Then I was thrilled to discover that Pearlescent Lavender Brilliance ink matched the B60 series really well, so I used that to sponge ink over the die to give Garden Eyes a nice background.

The sentiment is from the Mixed Messages set by Paper Trey Ink!

*Yes. It's true. I think in Copic colors now.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Outlawz Promarker/Copic Fridays "Anything Goes" challenge
Simon Says Stamp "Use your favorite tool" challenge -- Mine are Copics and/or Dies.
Oozak Blog "Anything Goes" challenge

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Bombshell Stamps' New Design Team!

As Bombshell's Design Team Captain, I am delighted to announce the new team! Join me as I congratulate these talented ladies!


The Bombshell Girls
Alaine Medio
Alison Heikkila
Anam Stubbington
Emily Wilson
Glittery Katie Shanahan-Jones
Kelli Green
Sparkly Mary Harmon
Rachael Brackett
Stempelientje
Torrey Moseley
Kathi Rerek

Our Monthly Pin-Ups, aka Guest Designers:
Ms. April -- Teresa Gray, aka Mommamea
Ms. May -- Jennie Harris
Ms. June -- Kim Gaughan, aka Crafty Pink Anchor
Ms. July -- Susie Little, aka LittleMe
Ms. August -- Jodi Elam
Ms. September -- Lizzie Oakley, aka Oh Snap Lizzie