Monday, December 30, 2013

A gift!

I don't know if it's an age thang or a space cadet thang, but I need to have calendars throughout the house so that I know what day it is!

I've already made two calendars for my house and am sending a few out as gifts. This is one of them. Since the recipient doesn't visit here often, it will be a surprise!

I purchased several small tear-off calendars that were perfect for inclusion in a stamped piece. I also had a nice thick 6x6 piece of chipboard that was backing some patterned paper. So I upcycled it to back the calendar. It warped a tiny bit when I added glue, but such is life.

Here's the calendar!


I cut a piece of cardstock to 6x6 and stamped the mermaid from Bombshell's Mermaid Treasure set using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. A stamp positioner was used to place the treasure chest. The mermaid and the treasure chest were colored with Copic markers. I then stamped both the mermaid and the treasure chest onto Eclipse tape, fussy cut them, and placed them over their stamped colored counterparts on the piece.

Four Post-It notes were taped together then cut in a wavy pattern. This was placed over the bottom part of the scene, under the treasure chest. The Copic Airbrush system was used to airbrush the "sea" using various BG markers. When I was happy with the color, I took the other part of the Post-It note mask, positioned it over the "sea" and airbrushed the sea bottom using E40 markers. Palette chalk was used to add additional interest to the sea bottom.

The seaweed stamp, included in the Mermaid Treasure set, was stamped repeatedly along the sea bottom and along the sides of the piece.

The masks were lifted and the entire piece was airbrushed with BG11 to give it that under-the-water look. Then gold glitter was added to the coins and around the treasure chest and left to dry while I had a beverage and took an internet break.

Golden Glitz Delicata ink was used to ink Darling Dear wood-veneer numbers by Studio Calico. They looked odd floating above the calendar, so I added some very, very old gold mesh stuff to the upper right corner to anchor the letters and the calendar. It still looked a little sparse, so I added a big starfish charm (same shape as the starfish in the mermaid's hair don'tcha know) and a tiny starfish gold prongy thing (metal with prongs in the back that can stab you and draw blood, though they are really supposed to go through cardstock or fabric).

Now the piece looked unbalanced, which is not good. I'm the only unbalanced thing allowed in my craft room. So, I added another strip of the gold mesh stuff to the left side, added a shell charm, and a little gold crab punchy.

Since this is a gift, the back needed to look nice too, so I started to paint it with Tarnished Brass Distress paint and had a mishap. The paint wasn't flowing, so I squeezed the bottle very gently and paint kind of burst out of it . . . onto the chipboard, onto my hands, onto my hair, my sweatshirt, and my glasses. Yippee. Big fun. I was able to apply some of that paint to the piece, then cleaned myself off. The paint was flowing nicely now, so I finished painting the back, heat set it, added another coat, heat set that, then sponged Tempting Teal and Azure StazOn ink over a Prima Garden Gate stencil.

Here's a peek at the back!



The stamped, embellished cardstock was adhered to the chipboard and left to dry overnight. It is now residing under some heavy books in an attempt to flatten it out before mailing it.

Thanks for visiting today!

P.S. More calendars to come, so stay tuned.

I shall my calendar in the following challenges!
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges: Bling!
Fairytale Challenge Blog: Lucky Charms and New Year's Wishes
Crafter's Cafe Challenge #43: Happy New Year
Tando's Creative Challenges: Let's Sparkle

Sunday, December 29, 2013

SS&S, DD = Same Set & Sketch, Different Day!

I had the Kraftin' Kimmie's newish Just Chillin' set, out. I had my winter paper stash out (including papers that I was thinking about using for the last card, then rejected), and I still had the sketch on my table, so I decided to make another card using the same stamp set and the same sketch.

I should mention that I rarely leave things out after I project. I usually put things away so I can start with a clean space on my table. So obviously this card was meant to be!

Here's the sketch:

And here's what I did with it!


I should mention that clearly I can not follow a sketch. Oh well. :D

The penguin was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and onto a sheet of patterned paper from the old and retired Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses 6x6 pad. The penguin on the Neenah cardstock was colored with Copic markers. The panel took a ride through my Big Kick and stayed in the die while I lightly traced the interior of the it. I popped out the panel and added a background scene using Copic markers.

The penguin's hat and scarf, stamped onto the patterned paper, were fussy cut, lightly shaded, and adhered to their counterparts on the stamp scene.  Clear Gelly Glaze pen was used on the penguin's beak and white flock was added to the hat's brim? and pom-pom. The final touch was to add some glitter with Hologram Glitter Liner by Viva Décor.

This time I decided to make the card a bit smaller than the last one, so I had to do all that pesky math again. I added the sentiment to the fishtail die cuts using Doodlebug Rub-ons. I wish I could still find those as they're the perfect size for sentiments on cards! The layered papers were edged with Black Soot Distress ink. I repeated the coat the Making Memories button with patterned paper thing again, but edged it with Black Soot Distress ink. I had some sparkly red floss which I used to thread the button.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge #210: Sketch
7 Kids Challenge Blog #89: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges: Bling!
Oozak Challenge #28: Anything Goes!
Color Me Creative Challenge #83: Holiday Themed
Stampin' for the Weekend: Anything Goes

Friday, December 27, 2013

Just Chillin' with some penguins

If you know me, you know that I love cats and birds. I especially love penguins and owls. My stamp collection reflects this love. So when I saw Kraftin' Kimmie's newish Just Chillin' set, I knew that I had to have it.

After a fairly frenetic few weeks, I finally had time to get the set inky and decided to use the current sketch, which is the challenge over at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge Blog.

Here's the sketch:

And here's what I did with it!
The penguin pair were stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. The panel took a ride through my Big Kick and stayed in the die while I lightly traced the interior of the it. I popped out the panel and added a background using Copic markers. Then I added some glittery lines to the ice using a Wink of Stella Glitter pen. Clear Gelly Glaze pen was used on the penguins' beaks. The final touch was to add some glitter with Hologram Glitter Liner by Viva Décor. Sadly, the noontime sun washed the glitter right out of the photo. Bother!

The patterned paper is all from last year's  Winter Wishes 6x6 pad by Echo Park. The button is an Making Memories Chipboard button, which was updated with patterned paper. The Baker's Twine was originally purple and white, but I used a Copic marker to make it all matchy matchy because I'm cool like that.

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge #210: Sketch
A Creative Romance: Sparkle at Christmas
Southern Girls Challenge: Christmas Wishes
7 Kids Challenge Blog #89: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges: Bling!
Oozak Challenge #28: Anything Goes!


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

 There's still an Anything Goes challenge going on right now on the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog, so I made another Christmas card, which is ever-so-timely today. I planned that, don'tchaknow.

This card features Stampotique's Stack of Birds.

 
As a bonified birdbrain and a birdwatcher, I love and collect bird stamps. Sometimes I even use 'em. Imagine that! There's something about this Stack of Birds stamp that makes me smile. It's so cute and cheerful that you can almost hear the birds singing. In this case, they're singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas!"

They're a talented bunch and have a vast repertoire, so I'm sure they'll be singing on another card real soon. They also change their colors often to reflect their latest acapella rendition.

Anyway, Stack of Birds was colored with R00, R02, R04, and R17 Copic markers. After coloring them, I painted a thin layer of Matte Glue and Seal over them to act as a mask and add some texture. When it was dry, I sponged Old Paper Distress ink over them, then sponged China Blue Distress ink over the Dot Fade Layering Stencil. 

The focal image panel was matted with snowflake patterned paper from an old holiday 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye. I took a music print paper from the same pad (which contains the words to "We wish you a Merry Christmas!") and sponged Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress inks over the Hollybough Layering Stencil. The panel was edged with Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, and Walnut Stain Distress inks.

The sentiment was added with Kraft-colored stickers from the Chitchat and Seasonal Chitchat pads by Idea-ology. The edges of each word sticker was sponged with the aforementioned Distress inks.

Sheer music note ribbon was colored with Copic markers and added to the bottom of the card to reinforce the card's musical theme. A somewhat crinkled bow was added because I felt like it.

A scrap of the music print paper was die-cut with old poinsettia and holly dies. The poinsettias were colored with Copic markers, then molded with various stylus balls to be dimensional. The holly leaves were colored with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress inks. The layered poinsettia and the holly leaves were added to the upper left corner to finish the card.

Thanks for visiting today and Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

There's an Anything Goes challenge going on right now on the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog and I'm still in a holiday card making mood.

Here's my card featuring Stampotique's Merry Fairy!



Merry Fairy was stamped twice, once onto Neenah cardstock, the second time onto Eclipse Tape. The Eclipse Tape version was fussy cut to be used as a mask. The Neenah version was colored with Copic markers, then masked with the fussy cut Eclipse Tape.

I punched a moon from the Eclipse Tape and positioned it above Merry Fairy. The background was then airbrushed with a variety of Copic markers until I was happy with the color. Copic Opaque White was applied to a toothbrush with a toothpick, then spritzed from the toothbrush over the masked images onto the sky to create stars.

The masks were lifted and I discovered that some Copic ink had leaked under the moon mask, so I punched another moon from a Post-It note. I used the aperture as a reverse mask, placed it over the moon, and dabbed some white acrylic paint and then added some white shimmery Ice Silks Glaze paint. When the paint was dry, I drew on the closed eye.

Merry Fairy needed a bit more detailing, so I used chalk pencils to add blush and shading and used some Prismacolor pencils to add some color and texture to her hair. Her wings were outlined with a Black Wink of Stella glitter pen, but the photo does not capture the lovely blinginess (new word).

The sentiments are both the Christmastime Remnant Rubs by Ideology. I won those over the summer along with The Chemist stamp set and the Eye Chart Layering Stencil which are both by Stamper's Anonymous. The Eye Chart will be seeing (pun intended) quite a bit of use within the next few months for somewhat scary reasons yet to be disclosed.

The patterned paper is from Echo Park's Winter Wishes 6x6 pad. A die cut border topped with a sparkly strip sticker was used to finish the card.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges:
Die Cuttin' Divas #146: Happy Holidays
Luna Girl Challenge Blog: Blue Christmas
Paper Playtime #26: Winter Fun
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenges: Stamp Out 2013
Tando Creative Challenges: Let's Sparkle

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Bombshell's December Sketch Challenge!

Here's the sketch that I created for Bombshell's December Sketch challenge!



Here's the card I created using the sketch!


The card features Bombshell Stamps' Girl's Ruin and Holiday Accessory sets. The Santa hat from the Holiday Accessory set was stamped onto white cardstock and onto a Post-It note which was used as a mask. The Pin-Up in a Shoe from the Girl's Ruin set was stamped over the masked Santa hat, the mask was removed, and the image was colored with Copic markers.

The patterned papers are from a 6x6 holiday pad by Little Yellow Bicycle. I used old Emaginations punches for the snowflakes. They were punched from sparkly white metallic white cardstock.

The sentiment, from the Holiday Accessory was stamped onto white cardstock using Onyx Black VersaFine ink, then die cut.

Thanks for visiting today!

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Pink Flamingo

After all the holiday fun and hoopla last week, it's no surprise that unlike the fellow below, I am not in the pink. Not even remotely.

What happens chez moi is that when someone gets sick, s/he passes the little bug along to me, and it becomes a big bug. Since my last post, I've been trying to recuperate. I do feel better, though you'd never know it if you were around me. I sound like a coughing frog. Fortunately, I don't think I look like one, but one never knows, do one?

Anyway, here's the spiel about my project. It features Stampotique's Flamingo, who I think is just adorable. I do love flamingos and would like to have some fake plastic ones in my yard. My husband vetoed that. Spoilsport. Sadly, this guy will have to suffice. For now.

Coughing up a lung whilst coloring wreaks havoc upon said coloring, so I opted to make an almost completely paper-pieced, punched, and die cut card.

Here it is!


I stamped Flamingo several times onto pink, yellow, and greenish-bluish patterned papers from a variety of My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 6x6 pads. They're perfect for this sort of thing because they feature some smallish patterns. Once stamped, the various parts were fussy-cut and edged with black marker. Some parts, like the wing and the water ripples, were colored with Copic markers between coughs. Other parts, like his raised foot and beak, were coated with a few layers of Clear Glaze Gelly pen to make 'em dimensional and shiny. More patterned papers were cut, edged with Distress ink, and layered to form a scene. Then the Flamingo was pieced back together.

A punched sun and a whole mess of colored die-cut clouds were added.

I was going to make the Flamingo into a Santa, but I just wasn't feeling at all merry. So he's just relaxing in the sunlight.

Thanks for visiting today!

This card shall be entered in the following challenges.
Stampotique Designer's Challenge #128: Anything Goes
365 Cards, Day 338: Word Wednesday -- Feathered
Challenges 4 Everybody: Anything Goes
Hobby Cutz Challenges: Make a Scene



Sunday, December 1, 2013

Good News!

 I'm on Cloud Nine and over-the-moon excited that I was chosen to be part of Stampotique's Design Team for the first part of 2014! Woo-hoo!

Here's the roster!
Designer's Blog Team:
Janet Klein    http://Veralanestudio.com
Roc Nicholas    http://www.whatsuproc.blogspot.com
Coby van Willgenburg    http://cobyskaartenenatcs-coby.blogspot.nl
Sarah Anderson    http://sarahanderson1.blogspot.co.uk
Claudine C.     http://Claudinesartcorner.blogspot.com
Valerie Wilson    http://valeriewilson.blogspot.com
Astrid Stulemeijer    http:/www.assicrafts.blogspot.com

Designer's Challenge Team:
Carol Fox    http://gingernonutsbits.blogspot.co.uk/
Sue Davies    http://suetheiron.blogspot.co.uk/
Kaz Boughton    http://www.kazscraftbits.blogspot.com
Maria Sabina Raita    http://lollyrot-scrapbooking.blogspot.com/
Corrie Herriman    http://MadeByCHook.blogspot.nl
Kathi Rerek    http://kathstales.blogspot.com
Kay Wallace    http://kaywallaceartjournaling.blogspot.com
Samantha Read    http://www.crafty-sam.blogspot.co.uk
France Papillion    http://www.france-papillon.com
Kristen Catalano    http://scrap-creations1.blogspot.com
Tanja Kewel-Neef    http://www.stempelspielplatz.de/
Nellie van Leeuwen    http://dutchstamptramp.wordpress.com/
Kim Howard    http://basementstamper.blogspot.com
Arwen McCullen    http://arwen-mccullen.blogspot.de/  
Magda Polakow    http://littleeverland.blogspot.com/
Jackie Payne    http://scrapbangwallop.blogspot.co.uk
Gez Butterworth    http://gezzybscraftybits.blogspot.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a tag to prove how happy I am!
 My tag uses one of the kitties from Stampotique's Line-Up with hand drawn clouds. The sentiment, "Good things, good thoughts" seemed appropriate.

Friday, November 29, 2013

A Time for Remembering

Thanksgiving, Chanukah, and Christmas were always occasions for my family to get together to enjoy each others' company and enjoy a good meal. There was always a feeling of peace, contentment, and love that pervaded these holidays.

Now my father and mother-in-law are gone, but their memories live on within our hearts. We still get together to enjoy our family's holiday traditions, though of course, we note the missing places at the dinner table.

Hence, this project.

SCACD's Zen Sugar Skull, one of two sugar skulls and sentiment included in the Skellies in the Closet collection, was stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and colored with Copic markers. The little lantern, part of the Zen Sugar Skull, was stamped in the eye sockets with the assistance of a Stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner. Some Gelly Roll Stardust Pure Glitter pen was added here and there to add some glittery bits. The Zen Sugar Skull was fussy cut and edges with a black pen to get rid of those unsightly white edges.

The Key Corner die, one of two dies in SCACD's Fancy Flower and Key Corner die set, was used to cut black cardstock. I cut a 4" x 4" piece of patterned paper from the very old and hoarded Kioshi 6x6 pad by Basic Grey, edged it with Black Soot Distress ink, then added to the four corners. The Zen Sugar Skull was then adhered atop this piece.

The sentiment, which is included Skellies in the Closet collection was stamped and colored with Copic markers, then laid atop the Tessatina Border die cut by Memory Box.

By the way, you should go check out the sales at SCACD!  There are some fabulous bargains and I know you love bargains!

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes!
Songbird Challenge #28: Die Another Day
Use It Tuesdays #68: Anything Goes
365 Days - Day 329: Die Cut Dynamo


Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving! A repost...

In fact, this entire post is a repost from last year since we reprised the whole two days, with one exception. Chanukah started last night, so this year the Menorah, gifts, other family get-togethers, and traditions will be added to the mix...
 
I'm an overachiever, we already did the family Thanksgiving dinner last night and will be doing Thanksgiving Dinner, the Sequel tonight.

All the purveying, prep, and what not have kept me out of my craft room, so I'm reposting an oldie (but hopefully goodie) Thanksgiving card.

Here it is. It's an accordion card with a belly band to keep it together.

Front View with Belly Band:


Accordion Card:


The card features the adorable penguins from the Gobble It Up set by The Cat's Pajamas. The penguins, domed cloche, pie, and sentiments are from that set. The wine bottle is called Pop the Cork and is also by the Cat's Pajamas. 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 that homey yellow background, which was sponged with Distress Ink.

The patterned paper is from the Origins collection by Basic Grey.

Thanks for visiting today and

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I hope your meal is delicious, the company good, and that you have someone else to clean up for you. If you're traveling, be safe.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Bombshell's November Hump Day Hop

It's the last Wednesday of the month which means it's time for Bombshell's Hump Day Hop!

This month, Alison, our lovely and talented Challenge Captain has set the theme of Water World! Here's what she had to say about it.

"I want you to incorporate water or water-loving elements into your projects this month!"You should have arrived here from http://www.cajunstampingqueen.blogspot.com/

You should have arrived here from Kelli's blog, where you likely saw something altered, creative, and amazing!

Here's my project, using Bombshell's Mermaid Anchor rubber stamp set

I positioned the mermaid and the two dolphin stamps on my acrylic block, inked them with Tuxedo Black Memento ink, then stamped the images onto Neenah cardstock. I colored the images with Copic markers, then added some Clear Wink of Stella glitter pen to the mermaid's tail. I also added a few layers of Clear Gelly Glaze pen to both dolphins to make them look wet and slippery! Realism is everything, don'tcha think?

The cloudy sky was created and colored with Copic markers per my tutorial that appeared last Friday on Bombshell's blog. Here's a link if you want to take a gander, or a goose, or best yet, a look!

The sea was also colored, but then I decided to use vellum to make it look as though the lower part of the mermaid and her anchor were below the water line. I tore the tops of two sheets, then layered them over the stamped and colored panel. The vellum was attached with my Tiny Attacher stapler at the bottom and with colored twine that was threaded through punched holes on either side of the mermaid.

The staples were covered with a ribbon, a die-cut (QuicKutz) with a sentiment (from justjohanna's Odd Bird Planet) stamped onto it, and some more of that twine.

My Inkssentials White Gel pen was used to add some splashy drippy marks issuing from the dolphins' fins and tails. I went a bit overboard (giggling at my bad joke) with the white pen, but once it's on, it's on for good. *sigh*

I decided to keep the design simple and just matted the card and added some QuicKutz die-cut photo corners to the top corners.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful holiday if you're celebrating!

If you've gotten lost along the way or stopped here first...
here's the complete hop list!
Bombshell Blog
Alison
Kim
Alaine
Leslie
Glittery Katie
Kas
Stempelientje
Marnie
Kelli

Friday, November 22, 2013

Lookin' at clouds...

I've written a Fabulous Friday tutorial for Bombshell Stamps that shares how I create a cloudy sky background using Copic markers. Click on over to Bombshell's blog to check it out.

Card One

Card Two

Card Three

Card Four (channeling my inner Hippie)

All cards feature Bombshell's Butterfly Dreams rubber stamp set. This set contains nine different butterflies plus a "Butterfly Dream" sentiment.

Card Three also features Bombshell's Banner Sayings rubber stamp set, which is on sale now!

All cards use the same basic design, tweaked here and there. The patterned papers are all from very old Basic Grey 6x6 pads. I also used Nestabilities Grand Labels Four, Die-Namics Blueprints 2, and a bunch of other dies. I must say that that Thanks die from Memory Box is fabulous. It's such a perfect size. I also must say that I love, Love, LOVE the new magnetic platform from Sizzix!

Thanks for visiting today!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

And now for something different!

I felt like coloring a flower since for some reason I rarely use a flower as a focal image. It's not like I don't have lots of flower stamps. I do. I just don't seem to use them very much.

SCACD's latest release contained a cool new collection called Floral Fun that contains the Baobab Trees set and the Poppy Pods set, which is a great value. Of course, you can get each set separately if you'd prefer.

I opted to use the line art version from the Poppy Pods set. I'm only familiar with red poppies in full bloom and didn't know what poppy pods look like irl. So, I did what comes naturally (not that) and did a Google image search so that my poppies would look relatively realistic.

Here's the card:


I stamped the Poppy Pod using Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto off-white Neenah cardstock, then colored the image with Copic markers (YG91, 93, 95, 97 and Y21, 23, 32). I outlined the images with E70. The image panel was die cut with a Nestabilities die. The panel stayed in the die and Pumice Stone Distress ink was sponged over the die and around the edges.

The patterned papers are from the Reflections 6x6 pad by Echo Park. Some of the edges were distressed using a Tonic distressing tool and a pair of scissors. The distressed edges were sponged with Scattered Straw Distress ink.

Lace from my stash was adhered using my beloved Tiny Attacher. Jute was added to it because the card wanted another touch of yellow and another texture. I listened to it because it was right.

Both the nameplate and Thanks dies are by Memory Box. The nameplate was cut first, then the Thanks sentiment was cut from the nameplate and on contrasting paper. They were layered together.

The card was finished with three dragonflies that were punched from a sheet from the Reflections 6x6 pad by Echo Park.

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Cards in Envy: Punch It Challenge
Get Inky Challenge #17: Thanks or Thanksgiving
Lady Anne's Challenges: More than One Layer
Pile It On Challenge #46: With Thanks
Sentimental Sundays: Giving Thanks

Monday, November 18, 2013

Yikes. Difficult challenge!

I've been remiss since I returned from vacation and didn't get to a few of Stampotique Designers Challenges, so I decided to remedy that situation. But boy howdy did I choose a tough one! Stampotique Designers Challenge #125 is to create a One Layer Card. Gosh. That was seriously hard for me -- almost as hard as creating something elegant. I don't do elegant. And apparently I'm one-layer impaired as well.

The problem is that I've become the total Copic ho user and Copics tend to bleed through the back of the cardstock, which makes them very bad for one layer cards, so I had to color using an alternate coloring medium. Back in the day, pre-Copic, I used to use watercolor pencils, chalk pencils, and colored pencils. But I'm woefully out of practice using most of 'em.

But I was a good doobie (not the illegal kind) and got out my Prismacolor pencils and went for it.

Here it is:


I stamped Stampotique's Nerd Cat using Jet Black Archival ink onto Strathmore 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock then colored with my Prismacolor pencils. I went to blend with Goo-Gone and discovered that the !@#$^ ink smeared. Some not-so-nice words  issued from my lips. Shocking. Totally shocking. Um not. I swear like a sailor. It's disgraceful.

But I digress. Quél surprise! So I restamped Stampotique's Nerd Cat using Jet Black Archival ink onto a new piece of Strathmore 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock and colored it yet again with Prismacolor pencils. This time, I just didn't blend with anything other than other pencils. It came out okay, but not terrific. Nerd Cat was coated with a layer of Matte Multi-Medium that would (later) act as a resist/mask.

I've previously decided that Nerd Cat is a chemist. Chemists love to scribble their weird hieroglyphics onto whatever is handy like a table cloth or paper napkins, but this time Nerd Cat is a Chemistry Professor and is teaching a class. Therefore, he had to have a blackboard. Blackboards haven't been black in ages. They were green when last I checked. These days, they probably are obsolete, replaced with some gizmo. However, my Nerd Cat professor is a throwback, so he needed a green blackboard. I drew one in, then painted it green with Hyde Park Fresco Finish paint by Paper Artsy, then heat set the paint because I was impatient and wanted it dry pronto. I also didn't want to risk the flatness on the reverse of the card front. I used my Prismacolor pencils to add the wood around the green blackboard, then stamped some chemical hieroglyphics from The Chemist set (Stamper's Anonymous) that I won! (yeehaw) from the Tim Holtz. I used white ink to make it look chalky. There was some smearage, but perfection is overrated, so I let it ride.

The green blackboard was masked and Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink was sponged over the entire card front. The excess ink was carefully wiped off of Nerd Cat using a q-tip. Fired Brick and Salty Ocean Distress inks were sponged over the Measured Layered stencil and more Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink was sponged over the Dot Fade Layered stencil. BTW, all Layered stencils are on sale right now. And they rock, so you need them.

The last step was to add several layers of Clear Gelly Glaze pen to both the frames and lenses of the eyeglasses as well as the buttons to add dimension and shine. 

I decided not to add a sentiment 'cause I don't know how I will use the card and who will receive it for what occasion. Hence, when I get to that point, I will add one, most likely to the green blackboard.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges.
Stampotique Designers Challenge #125: One Layer 
Clean and Simple Sunday Challenge #21: One Layer Wonder
Corrosive Challenge #187: Fur or Feathers 
Cards Galore November Challenge: Animals


Friday, November 15, 2013

Santa's Spy & Helper

Have you ever wondered how Santa was able to know who was naughty or nice 24 hours a day for 365 days a year?

I've solved that problem. He has spies, lots and lots of them. They're in your house. They're in your garden. They're everywhere!

Here is one of Santa's little sneaky spy helpers!

 Eye on the Prize, one of the new release stamps from SCACD's Mechanicals Set #2, was stamped with Black Tuxedo Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and colored with Copic markers. Diamond Glaze Dimensional Adhesive was added to his eye, to the lens of his eyepiece, and to the lens of his telescope. This did not hurt him, but if it did hurt, who cares? He's a spy, so he deserves it!

The patterned papers are from the Traditions and Joyous 6x6 pads by Authentique. The gear corners are gold metallic cardstock that was cut with an Alterations Gears die, quartered, and added to the corners. The sentiment was cut from gold cardstock with the old Snow Angels QuicKutz die set. 

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Crimbo Crackers Challenge #54: Christmas Words
Crafting By Designs: Anything Goes with a Twist of Christmas
Vintage Crafting Time Challenge #14: Traditional Christmas
Cards for Men Challenge #23: Merry Christmas
Oozak Challenges #26: Holidays and Anything Goes

Monday, November 11, 2013

Bombshell's Muse Monday!

Bombshell's Design Team, aka the Bombshell Girls, are showcasing the Indian Princess set on the Bombshell Blog every Monday throughout November! This set is available in both rubber and digital formats! Better yet, the rubber set is on sale this month! Click on over to the blog every Monday to see and be inspired by new artwork featuring this versatile set.

Here's my card for November 2013's Muse Monday!


The Indian Princess with Headress from the Indian Princess set was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and colored with Copic markers. When I was done, the image was outlined with a W0 marker and some chalk pencils were used to add some shading. Clear Wink of Stella glitter pen was added to the crystals on her headdress and earrings to make 'em sparkly.

The Dream Catcher from the Indian Princess set was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cradstock, colored with Copic markers, fussy cut, then edged with a black Big Brush pen.

The layered patterned papers are from the Marrakesh 6x6 pad by Basic Grey. It's an older pad, but I still love it. Fishtail dies by Die-Namics were used to die cut some of the papers, layered, and the Dream Catcher was adhered atop the fishtails. I used a very old 4x4 die by QuicKutz to die-cut some thin chipboard. The arrow was a bit too long, so I cut it down and added some solid blue paper from the Marrakesh pad to hide the seam between the arrow head and shaft.

It's a sunny cool day in New Jersey, so there are some pretty harsh shadows on my card from the Dream Catcher. Sorry 'bout that!

Thanks for visiting today!


Saturday, November 9, 2013

Moxie Fab Thanks Blog Hop


 The crafting world had some sad news the other day. Moxie Fab World's originator, Cath Edvaldson, has decided that it's time for her to step away from Moxie Fab World and begin a new adventure. Since Cath has been such a positive force in the industry, people decided to hold a huge blog hop in her honor. Even though I was never "Moxie Fab" and haven't had work published by Paper Crafts in ages, I had exchanged emails with Cath and met her a few times at CHA. I found her to be as delightful in person as I had in email, so I decided to participate in the blog hop.

So on with the hop! You should have come here from Katrina Hunt's blog.

Here's my card.


I used Stampotique's Moon Girl.  As I've done in the past with this stamp, I colored the rubber with Distress markers, huffed on the stamp, then stamped the image onto Neenah cardstock. Copic markers were used to deepen the colors on her hair and dress and to add color to her face and wings. When I was done coloring her, I added Clear Wink of Stella glitter pen to her wings because fairies have to have glittery wings. I die-cut the image panel using a Memory Box Snow Globe die, then traced previously die-cut Eclipse tape Clouds (Memory Box) using a Copic marker. The Eclipse tape was lifted and the clouds were further detailed with additional Copic markers. Blue sky was added using a custom-blended blue Copic marker.

The base of the Snow Globe was die-cut from wood patterned paper from the Wildflower 6x6 pad by Carta Bella. It was edged with Frayed Burlap Distress ink because I can't abide white edges.

SCACD's Ornate Hinge die was used to die-cut white cardstock and three Ornate Hinge die-cuts were layered atop a sheet of patterned paper from the Wildflower 6x6 pad. Additional papers were layered and a computer generated sentiment strip was added. Memory Box's Thanks die was used to die-cut white paper and the die-cut was layered onto the base of the Snow Globe. The assembled Snow Globe was added to the card's front. One of the two dies in SCACD's Classic Corners die set was used to die-cut white cardstock. These corners were added to the top corners to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by today. Your next stop on the hop is Glenda Wyatt's blog!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Here's Steampunk Cat & Mouse!

Here's Steampunk Cat and Mouse, which is a digital stamp by Carmen Medlin for SCACD Digital.
I love these digis because you can resize them, flip 'em, flop 'em, and do other odd things to them. Best of all, there are lots of owls (which I love) and Steampunk-themed stamps (I adore Steampunk). And of course I love AND adore cats!!!



 Steampunk Cat and Mouse was resized using Photo Elements and printed onto Neenah cardstock with my laser printer. They were then colored with Copic markers as was the background. When I was done, I added Gold Spica Glitter (Copic) pen to the watch frame and Lipstick Spica Glitter (Copic) pen to the mouse's nose and reflection. Then I went over the entire watch, the cat's eyes, the mouse's nose, and his wheels with a Clear Gelly Roll Glaze pen. When the glaze was dry, I repeated this step a few times to make those parts even more dimensional and shiny/clear.

Patterned paper from the Steampunk Spells 6x6 pad by Graphic 45 was used for the mats and die cut. Patterned paper from Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante 8x8 pad was used for the card front. SCACD's Alice's Clock Statement Corner die was used to cut the yellow solid paper from Steampunk Spells 6x6 pad. I used red 3D Stamp Paint by Viva Decor to paint the die-cut. This paint is shimmery and can be dimensional, though I chose to use it as a flat paint. Best of all, it's 35% off right now.

I couldn't decide on a sentiment, so I didn't use one! When I do, it'll likely go in the upper right, jutting into the white space of the scene.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Divas by Design: Use a Digi
Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes
Twisted Tuesday: Anything Goes and a Free-for-all
Our Creative Corner: Steampunk Tic-Tac-Toe: (I used gears - both paper and diecut), texture (glitter, glaze), and transport (the mouse has wheels)
Cards Galore Challenges: Animals
Emergency Crafters: Steampunk
Feeling Crafty Challenge #22: Steampunk
Punk You Girls Challenge #6: Angels or Demons My cats can be either angels or demons.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Bombshell's Ms. November's Challenge!

Kas Mello, Bombshell's Ms. November, has issued her challenge, "Rough Chicks, Bikes, and Leather". Not all girls are into pink and bows, some are covered in grease and have helmet hair. Motorcycles are always a good girly accessory and what biker chick doesn't love leather?

I used Bombshell Stamps' A Pirate's Life set, Biker Bombshell Digital stamp set, and the Vintage Motorcycle set to create this card.


I decided that I wanted the entire scene to be in greyscale, except for one pop of color. The Pirate Pin-Up girl was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and just her head was colored using Copic markers, fussy cut, and put aside. I chose the outfit with the scarf from the
Biker Bombshell Digital stamp set and used Photo Elements to copy and paste two outfits which were printed onto Neenah cardstock using my laser printer.  The outfits were colored with Copic markers and then fussy cut. A Krylon Silver Leafing pen was used to add silver to the jacket's zippers and buttons. The jacket and the boots were painted with Fresco Finish Gloss Glaze (Paper Artsy), so that they would look like shiny leather.  The boots were layered over their counterparts and the rest of the Pirate-Pin-up-turned-Biker Babe was assembled. She was put aside while I worked on the scene.

The left-facing motorcycle from the Vintage Motorcycle set was stamped and colored with Copic markers. A VersaMark marker was used to color over the motorcycle, which was then heat embossed with Clear Filigree embossing powder. The same motorcycle was stamped again to the left and overlapping the first motorcycle. The embossing acted like a resist. The excess ink was wiped off using a cotton swab and this motorcycle was colored with Copic markers. I repeated the VersaMark/embossing powder process, and then stamped the motorcycle a third time, colored it with Copics, then the VersaMark marker, then heat embossed the image. I should note that I know squat all about motorcycles so the coloration of the motorcycles, especially the aqua one, is probably completely wrong. Such is life.

Pumice Stone Distress ink was sponged over the motorcycles. I pulled out my trusty Bricks stencil by The Crafter's Workshop and sponged Pumice Stone Distress ink over the stencil rather heavily to create a brick wall behind the motorcycles. I messed up with the embossing powder a bit at the base of the card, but Black Soot Distress paint came to the rescue. Gosh. I love paint!

Black cardstock was die cut with a Nestabilities die and then used to frame the motorcycle scene. This framed piece was adhered to a 5" x 7" card and the Bombshell Biker Babe was adhered as shown.

Thanks for visiting today!

Friday, November 1, 2013

Happy Birthday to the Bombshell Queen!

Shannon is the Bombshell Queen and today is her birthday!

Bombshell Girls and Pin-Ups from the current and past teams have gotten together to throw a huge surprise blog hop to celebrate Shannon's special day!

You should have gotten here from Jenn's blog, where you surely saw something wonderful.

I'm the last stop on the hop! I know that you've seen some wonderful and inspiring artwork featuring Bombshell Stamps!

Now you get to see my card for Shannon!

Here it is!

Man's Ruin was one of my first five stamp sets when I discovered Bombshell Stamps several years ago. The Party Pin-Up really appealed to me and I also loved the Skull with Rose rubber stamp. The Man's Ruin set is still one of my favorite sets and I reach for it often as it's especially good for birthday cards!

The Man's Ruin set was stamped twice with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and colored with Copic markers. I fussy cut the head, torso, legs, and drink of one of the images and set it aside. The bottom part, comprised of the Pin-Up's bottom and the container part of the martini glass were pressed into a VersaMark pad and heat embossed with Clear Filigree embossing powder. This step was repeated several times until it it appeared glossy. I used a VersaMark marker on the skull and repeated the above process until the skull was dimensional and shiny.

The fussy-cut head, torso, legs, and drink were adhered atop the counterparts, which resulted in the top part of the Pin-Up and her legs appearing to be outside of the martini glass. A crown from the Butterfly Queen set was stamped with Champagne Dazzle VersaMark ink and heat embossed with a glittery gold embossing powder. I had incomplete coverage, so I ran a Krylon Gold Leafing pen over the embossed skull. This worked and I ended up with a gold glittery crown, which was fussy cut, then adhered to the Party Pin-Up's head.

The stamped panel was die-cut using a Nestabilities Grand Labels Four die, kept in the die, then sponged with Weathered Wood Distress ink. 

The patterned papers are from the Perhaps (floral) and Phresh and Phunky (checked) collections by Basic Grey plus music sheet paper from Victoria Gardens 6x6 pad by Echo Park. The metallic glitter papers (gold, silver, blue, pink) are all from a glitter 6x6 pad by DCWV.

Gold glitter paper was punched with an EK Success border punch and used to mat a strip of music paper. A smaller strip of the gold glitter paper was adhered at the top of this panel. Blue glitter paper was die cut with the Delicate Chain die by Poppy Stamps/Memory Box and added to the thin strip of gold glitter paper. This matted strip of music paper was layered atop the Perhaps patterned paper. SCACD's Ornate  Hinge die was used to die-cut blue glitter paper and these were added to either side of the music strip.

The stamped, colored, and die cut was adhered to the card front.  One of the two SCACD's Classic Corner dies was used to die cut gold glitter paper. The die-cut corners were added to all four corners of the card front. Blue glitter paper was die cut with Memory Box' Party Glasses die, which cuts five tiny cocktail and/or wine glasses. Four of these glasses were added to each of the corners.

A small label was die cut from blue glitter paper and foil sentiment stickers were added. Gold Kaisercraft Rhinestones were added to finish the card front.

Inside of card:

The inside of the card is basically the same as the outside of the card, except that I used one of the two dies included in SCACD's Garden Corners set to die cut gold and pink glitter paper, then pieced the two together. A tiny star punch was used to punch blue glitter paper which was added to the corners. A large martini glass die by Die-Namics was used to die cut white/silver glitter paper. I colored the martini glass with a Prismacolor marker, then added Clear Gelly Glaze pen over it to seal it.

If you got lost along the way or just happened upon this post, the blog hop roster is below so that you can check out some fabulous schtuff!

Here's the Blog Hop Roster!
Alaine
Alison 
Katie
Kelli
Kim
Marnie
Stempelientje 
Susie
Sharon
Kas
Holley
Leslie
Alyssa
Nicole
Cheryl
Milo
Alex
Teresa
Jenn
Kathi

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Bombshell's October Hump Day Hop!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Alison, Bombshell's Captain, agrees with me and set this month's theme accordingly.

October's Hump Day Hop theme is The Witching Hour! Here's what she had to say about the theme!
The witching hour is the time of night when witches, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures are said to appear. Make a project about those that may be lurking, during the witching hour.
You should have arrived at my blog from Kelli's blog, where you saw a wonderful treat!

If you have arrived here another way and want to check out the hop, the hop roster is below!

Here's my card:


Bombshell Pin-Up, from the Bombshell Angel rubber stamp set actually has a secret life as a witch.  Halloween has special significance to witches, so they often have swanky formal parties to celebrate. So Bombshell Pin-Up has dressed accordingly. She's wearing a fetching evening gown from the digital Evening Bombshell Digital set. However, no witch's outfit is complete without the witch hat, so she added a lovely rhinestone buckle to the witch hat from the Halloween Costume digital set.

Her outfit was colored with Copic markers. A red rhinestone heart was added to her evening gown and a clear Wink of Stella glitter pen was used to add sparkle to the buckle.

The venue of the party has some special features. Note the two cobwebbed portraits. The Waving Skeleton rubber stamp from the Calaveras Fiesta rubber stamp set was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink, die-cut with a Nestabilities Labels Eight die, and colored with Copic markers. Both portraits were adorned with a spider web, courtesy of the Small Spider Web Corner from the Dead Necessities rubber stamp set.  The portraits were then framed with the metallic copper Nestabilities Decorative Labels Eight die-cuts.

Cobwebs have spiders, so black cardstock was cut with Memory Box's Scary Spiders die, which is currently on sale! The spiders were adhered with dimensional adhesive.

Big bashes like this soirée generally serve drinks, so a bar was needed. Memory Box's Small Madison Window die was used to die-cut black cardstock. I cut two rectangles to make drawers for the bar. I cut a small piece of lace, used a Copic marker to change the color, and adhered it behind and draping the top of the "bar". Memory Box's Party Glasses die was used to die cut white cardstock, which was colored with Copic markers, and enhanced with Clear Gelly Glaze pen. The Vintage Bottles die was used to die cut copper metallic cardstock. This bottle holds the special red punch brewed for this festive occasion.

Witches do love their cats and there's no better accessory for a formal occasion than a black cat. Well, what's better is three of them! Black cardstock was die-cut with Impression Obsession's Cats set and the cats were molded a bit, then popped up with dimensionals.

The patterned paper is from the Midnight Magic 6x6 pad from Recollections' Haunted collection, which was matted with copper specialty paper from FiberMark. SCACD's Alice's Clock Statement Corner die was used to die-cut copper metallic cardstock, which reinforced the Witching Hour theme of the card. The last step was to adhere the Bombshell Pin-Up with dimensional foam adhesives.

Thanks for visiting today!

Here's the hop list!
Bombshell Blog
Alison
Glittery Katie
Stempelientje
Marnie
Kim
Alaine
Leslie
Monika
Kelli
Kathi

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Monday: Anything Goes
Avenue 613 Challenge #43: Anything Goes
Creative Moments Challenge #28: Use Lace

Monday, October 28, 2013

Relaxin' with Lace and Fabric!

Since I returned from vacation, I've been playing catch up with my dt responsibilities and other stuff, like cleaning my house.

I finally got a chance to play with my Stampotique stamps again (They missied me!) and participate in the current Stampotique Designers Challenge, which was to use lace or fabric.

You may or may not know, but I am sewing impaired and can barely hand-sew a button, let alone use a sewing machine. This stems from my days in Home Economics in seventh grade when I sewed my finger to a slip. Do you remember full slips and/or Home Economics? Suffice to say, sewing a line of stitches through my left index finger was fairly traumatic. It hurt. It bled, and it made my Home Ec teacher pass out. Big fun. The nurse had to attend to her before attending to me, so I was literally stuck to the sewing machine and bleeding all over the slip while they revived her and walked her out of the classroom. Then they had to get me off of the sewing machine. Not fun at all. And I failed the course.

So using fabric was a stretch for me. Fortunately, I had the Tiny Attacher, which allowed me to attach lace to my card. Incidentally,  I also recently used the Tiny Attacher to fix a hem, which had come undone.

Now that you're reeling from disgust from the blood, gore, pathos, and suchlike and are feeling sorry for my family because of my missing domestic skills, I'll bore you with my card.

Here it is! By the way, the red isn't as neon as below. I hate neon...



Stampotique's* Relaxin' was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers which I'll list below. I colored her to match the papers chosen from the 302 6x6 pad by Farmhouse (which is on sale!). I also used a sheet of patterned by from the Origins collection by Basic Grey. Pebbles Palette Chalk was used to add a touch of color to her cheeks.

Lace from my stash was left au naturel and attached to either side of the stamped panel using the aforementioned Tiny Attacher. Other lace, also from my stash, was colored with a BG marker to be all matchy-matchy with the patterned paper, then attached to the top and bottom using the ever-so-useful Tiny Attacher. Papers were edged with Distress ink, layered, and some red lace was adhered (guess how!).

A circle was punched from the yellow Origins paper and adhered to a clear button using Diamond Glaze adhesive by Judikins. I found a red heart button in my stash and stacked it onto the clear button with aqua-ish Scrapper's Floss. I curled the ends around a paintbrush.

Red canvas was die-cut using the Alterations Mini Tattered Florals die. The three red die-cuts were crushed, folded, and tortured 'til they cried for mercy. Um no. They were crushed to distress 'em and leave creases which were sponged with Gathered Twigs Distress ink. They were stacked with petals offset, and the heart/clear button was added to the center of the flower. The flower was in turn adhered to the top corner of the card front.

The card was finished with sparkly glitter sticker letters that spells out the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting today!

* Stampotique stamps are also available at SCACD and some are on sale! Sales are good. Saving money gives you more money to send to me.

Copic markers used:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, BV0000, BV00
Blouse: E81, E84
Tie, Hearts, Chair: R22, R24, R46
Hat, Skirt: BG11, BG23, BG34
Stockings, Shirt: Y02, Y04, Y06, Y18
Background:W00, W0, W1, W2, W4, W5

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges:
Stampotique Designer Challenge #122: Fabric or Lace 
Simon Says Monday: Anything Goes
Avenue 613 Challenge #43: Anything Goes
Creative Moments Challenge #28: Use Lace