Just Chillin'

This week's challenge at Outlawz Alcohol Markers Challenges is Anything Goes and/or Christmas.
Outlawz Alcohol Markers Challenges is now a coloring challenge! You can use alcohol markers, other markers, colored pencils, and any other coloring medium. The only requirement is that you color an open line image!

August's sponsor for the Outlawz Friday's Coloring Challenges is Bombshell Stamps. The winner of this month's challenge will win his or her choice of a digital set of stamps.

You should definitely enter this challenge and should also visit my Outlawz Coloring Challenge Teamies' blogs for inspiration! Carla, Dawn, and Penny are seriously talented!

Here's my card using one of the penguins from Kraftin' Kimmie's Just Chillin' set.

The penguin was stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. When I was done, he took a ride through my Big Kick and was die-cut with a Nestabilities Square die by Spellbinders. The image panel stayed in the die and Old Paper Distress ink was sponged over the die using the fabulous Mini Ink Blending Tool. I now have all of the Mini Distress inks (yahoo!) and discovered something really useful! The Replacement Mini Ink Blending Foams fit inside the back of the cute little ink pads, so my plan is to have a foam for each color!  Stuff like that makes my Virgo-self really happy. It's the "ducks in a row" thing applied to inkpads.

I digressed, but at least my digression shared useful info! Now back to my card... I popped the image panel out of the die and used my Stardust Clear Glitter pen to add some sparkle to the ice under the penguin. When the ink was dry, I used the Clear Gelly Glaze pen to the ice, the penguin's beak, and his eyes. I built up several layers of Clear Gelly Glaze to add glassy dimension and shine. My Quickie Glue pen was used to add glue to adhere White Fun Flock to the pom-poms on the penguin's hat and scarf. In looking at the card, I should have added the Fun Flock to the hat's brim too. Oh well.

Here's a close-up so you can see the glassy shine and dimension of the ice and the fuzziness of the flock, which is whiter irl.

The patterned papers are really old, from the Jovial 6x6 pad by Basic Grey. I followed Papertake Weekly's Sketch #88. The flag is from the Fishtail Stax by Die-Namics. The sentiment is by Rubber Soul. It was die-cut using a die by Just-Rite, kept in the die, and sponged with Old Paper Distress ink.

Here's the sketch!

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card into the following challenges:

• Papertake Weekly Challenges: Sketchie Free-for-all

• Kraftin' Kimmie Wonderful Wednesday Challenges
• 7 Kids College Fund: Anything Goes/Die-cuts 
• The Crafter's Café Challenges: Use Your Punches or Dies
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog: Anything Goes

Be extraordinary!

 

That's Birdy Shoes by Stampotique. Isn't he just way too cute?  I think he's extraordinary, especially when he's sporting some colorful plumage so he can stand out from the crowd.

He was stamped onto Neenah cardstock and onto a double layer of Eclipse Tape by Judikins, which were fussy cut to be used as masks. I stamped the birdy on the right, masked him, stamped the birdy in the middle, masked him, then stamped the last birdy on the left. The masks were kept in place while I colored in a floor for them. Then the masks were removed and all three birdies were colored in Toner Grey Copic markers. 

An additional Birdy Shoes image was stamped, colored in orange, yellow, and violet to comply with the current challenge over at the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog. He was fussy cut, edged with a black pen, and put aside.

I found some seriously old black/grey patterned paper with a tiny triple dot pattern in my stash that worked really well matchy-matchywise (new word) with my greyscale birdies. This paper is by Keeping Memories Alive, which has been gone forever and a day. I hoard their papers because I find them useful. 

The birdy trio was matted with grey cardstock, then layred onto the KMA paper using almost-as-old photo corner stickers by Scrapbook Adhesives. I hoard those too because they're useful. Sense a theme here?

I die-cut a piece of grey cardstock using an old 4x4 QuicKutz die and stamped the sentiment, from the Wise Words set by Rubber Soul/Wordsworth, using Onyx Black VersaMark ink onto it. I also die-cut an extra grey arrow and a black arrow and stacked all three of them, offsetting their arrowheads a bit. This gave the colorful Birdy Shoes birdy a nice raised perch. Colorful Birdy Shoes was adhered onto the stacked arrows using my beloved-and-hoarded black dimensional foam stickers by Scrapbook Adhesives.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:

• Stampotique Designers Challenge #111: Yellow, Orange, and Purple

• Addicted to Stamps Challenge #61: Wonderful Wings

• Stamping Sensations: Wings & Things and a Touch of Vintage (my papers)

Ah, to be cool under the sea!

It's over 90° here and don'tcha know that the freakin' central air went out? Yep. It's true and I'm whinin' about it. I wish I had a pool or lived near a beach so I could cool off. Alas and alack. I can't. There's always the shower, but that doesn't last long. I can't even open a window because the freakin' male cicadas are screaming their little lungs out trying to get laid, so they can create the next generation, who will burrow into the ground and do this all again seventeen years from now. These cicadas are hormonal teenaged boys. 'Nuff said.

Anyways, I decided that I was going to get my mind off my hot house, the horny cicadas, and the impending bill for the repair/replacement of the ac/furnace. I chose to play around some more with my Distress Paints, my water mister, and create a tag and do a challenge or two in the process.

This is what happened.



So, first I put some Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, and Mowed Lawn Distress paints onto my craft sheet. I spritzed the paints and the tag and my face with some water from a Mini Mister. I dragged the tag through the paint, spritzed it with water, and heat set the first layer. Then I repeated the process using up the paint that was on the craft sheet. The next step was to sponge a mix of Black Soot and Mowed Lawn Distress paints through one of the plants on an old Club Scrap stencil to create sea plants along the bottom. I also sponged a combo if Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint over a leafy plant on the same stencil. When I was happy-ish with it, I heat set that layer. Then I grabbed my beloved new favorite Tiny Circles stencil by The Crafter's Workshop and sponged Picket Fence Distress paint here and there. Because I could. So I did. That layer was heat set.

Octopet by Stampotique was stamped using Onyx Black VersaFine ink and embossed with clear detail embossing powder. Two fish from justjohanna/Odd Bird Planet were treated the same way. Both the octopus and the fish were colored with Silkz Acrylic Glazes which added some shimmery color to them.

Since I save everything, I happened to have a scrap from a Hammermill Inkjet Traansparency. I cut it to the same size as the tag, punched a hole in it, and then it took a ride through the Big Kick in the gorgeous Art Nouveau Waterfall embossing folder by Couture Creations.

The sentiment is from the Animal Love set by The Rubber Soul. I've had several of those sets forever. I probably got them because of the silly sentiments that go along with goofy animals. I can't resist either. Anyway, I stamped the sentiment onto a reject tag, cut it down, and added it to the tag.

I stapled the embossed transparency over the tag and then added some pretty sheer colored ribbon to finish the tag.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this tag into the following challenges:
• Stampotique Designer's Challenge #102: Transparent
• Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes
• Anything Goes Challenge Blog #93: Handmade Background
• Party Time Tuesdays #122: Anything Goes

Be Amazing

Pinwheel Pixie (MG-008-N) is one of the great new Steampunk stamps featured in Third Coast's Spring 2012 release. He can be found on page 44 of the new catalog supplement. Don't forget that all the new release stamps are on sale until June 10th!!!

Here's my card!

Pinwheel Pixie can be either a boy or a girl, depending on the sex of the recipient or your mood. Since I had chosen the papers I wanted to use, I decided to make him a boy. He was colored with Copic markers. I added darker dots to his blanket using a Stampin' Up piecing guide. The background was colored with Copic markers, then textured using Copic blending solution on a cheap terrycloth washcloth. Basically, you wet the cloth with the solution, then press the terrycloth to the area you want texturized. Different fabrics yield different results.

Anyway, I digress. After I was happy with the look, I added Glossy Accents to the watch parts and the goggle lenses and left it overnight to dry. Yes, it's true. I finally learned my lesson about Glossy Accents and patience.

The stamped piece was layered onto two different leather-look specialty papers from the late, lamented FiberMark. I also used one of them for the "watchband". I'm inordinately pleased with the "watchband" because Ms. Sewing-Impaired America (me) actually hand-sewed the stitches and:
(a) I didn't bleed all over the project.
(b) Whereas it's not perfect, it doesn't look like moose snot. (In case you were wondering, I don't actually know what moose snot looks like, but I'm sure it's disgusting.)
(c) Since I didn't have the right color thread (see my title), I colored white thread with BG02, which made me feel mad-clever. (The mad part of that is probably true).

You might ask how I achieved my lofty result. However, I'll save you from that and simply tell you. A while back, someone on Splitcoast said you could use EK Success' Piercing Bug thingies with either a Martha Stewart Score Board or a Score Pal. So, I duly went to AC Moore, used a 40% coupon, and bought them. I filed them away and forgot about them. Then while reorganizing, I found them and gave them a go on the Leather-Look paper. Voila. It worked. Woo-hoo!!! Three cheers. Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

The watch is a very old Heidi Swapp Chipboard Clock face. I colored the innard ring with Copics, though the color is a bit off. I pierced a hole in the center and added a watch gear, spinner (from Retro Cafe), and a rhinestone brad. I also used a buckle from an old broken watch, which is the only kind of watch I have. Thank heavens for cell phones. I use mine as a watch and an alarm clock.

Oops. Digressed again. Sigh. It ain't easy being me.

So, the patterned papers are by My Mind's Eye 6x6 pads. The plaid is from the Fine & Dandy Boy pad and the geary-circles (yellow) is from Lost & Found 2. I layered them together, put the layered piece inside a Timeworks Cuttlebug folder, which then took a ride through my Big Kick. When the ride was over, the piece got treated to a spongebath of Frayed Burlap Distress ink.

Since I had two gold accents, I decided that a third was needed. I found a thin gold sheet, die cut it, and added Wordworth Rub-ons to it. I thought "be Amazing" worked well as a sentiment for this card and/or for baby cards.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall be entering this card in some challenges somewhere.
• Simon Says Stamp & Show: One for the Boys
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge: "Anything Goes"
• Craft Your Passion Challenge #112: For Babies
• Fairy Tale Challenge Blog: For Boys or Men
• Joyful Stamper: Inspire Me Fridays #61: "Anything Goes"

Dance with me!

Greetings! Today I bring you yet another glimpse of Third Coast's newest release. Remember that these new release stamps are on sale for 20% off through June 10th!

This card features Victorian Boots (FA-516-I) from page 10.

I stamped the single boot using VersaFine ink, heat set it, masked it, and repeated the process. Then I colored the boots using Copic markers, and added Glaze Pen accents for the buttons. The image was die-cut with a square Nestabilities die, Victorian Violet Distress ink was sponged over the die, then I grounded the boots with some Black Soot Distress ink. The patterned paper is from a My Mind's Eye: Sophie/Graceful 6x6 pad. The black paper is actually black vellum, but that's not showing. :(

I wanted to mimic the details of the stamp, so I used lots of scallops, then also used sheer organza ribbon that I've had in my stash forever. I made the ribbon flower, colored a pearl button with my 100 Black Copic marker, and also colored pearls with Copics too.

Ribbon Bow: Up close & personal:

Oh yeah. The sentiment is from the Tiny Wise Words clear set by Wordsworth/Rubber Soul.

Thanks for visiting today!

The Traveling Cat

It's my last "official" card for my Outlawz Copic/Promarker Fridays Guest Design gig. I sure had fun playing along and am still gobsmacked and chuffed that they asked me!



Sometimes it's fun to make up back stories for my cards. I've decided that the Traveling Cat image from the Cats sheet by The Enchanted Gallery is leaving Paris after a torrid rendez-vous with Puss in Boots and this is their sad au revoir at Le Gare D'Austerlitz.

Anyways, she was colored with Copic markers. I used the "dirty rag" technique on her fur stole. The patterned papers are from the Boxer 6x6 pad and the Curtain Call 8x8 pad by Graphic 45. The sentiment is from the Tiny Wise Words set by Rubber Soul, which is a fabulous set of wonderful little sentiments that used to be a rub-on sheet too!

I'm not totally thrilled with this one, but done is done and done is good. I plan on making a lighter colored version using Madame Le Chat soon.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges.
• The Outlawz Copic/Promarker Fridays "Anything Goes" challenge
• Simon Says Stamp and Show "New York, London, or Paris" challenge (I'll take Paris!)
• iCopic Lovers Weekly Challenge #70 -- Animals

Third Coast New Release & SALE!!!

There are 13 pages of fabulous new stamps available now. Better yet, they're on sale for 20% off until December 10th! Gotta love that! Click HERE to check it out! Additionally, there's an Overstock Sale going on too! Here's a link to that info!

Here's a card using the brand new Ready for Winter (VB-372-N), which can be found on page 2 of the November 2011 Supplement!



I stamped the gal twice onto white cardstock, colored the parts with Copic markers, then cut them apart. The jacket was stamped onto black & white herringbone paper from the Burberry Cottage 6x6 pad by Pink Paislee and colored with Copic markers. Black Glaze pen was added to the buttons, then the jacket was cut out.

The gal was reassembled (sounds gruesome) and put aside. I die cut white cardstock and airbrushed it with light blue while it was still in the die. A snowflake flourish by Third Coast was stamped three times with Frost Dazzle VersaMark ink and heat embossed with holographic embossing powder. The edges of the die cut were edged with a VersaMarker, then heat embossed with the same holographic embossing powder. The gal was positioned in the die cut and Copic Opaque White snowflakes were added with a toothpick.

The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye and Pink Paislee. The sentiment stamp is by Rubber Soul.

I shall enter this card in:
• Moxie Fab World's "Get Inspired by Fashion" challenge
• Outlawz Copic/Promarker "Anything Goes" challenge
• Craft Your Passion #86: "'Tis the Season" Challenge
• Simon Says "Anything Goes" Challenge