Arise my minions!

Greetings! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and are about to shop your little hearts out in the rush towards the holidays! Remember that Saturday is Small Business Saturday and that Monday is Cyber Monday.

***End of Public Service Announcement***

Here's a nice wintry card for you.



My card features Snow Wizard (VB-075-C) from Third Coast Rubber Stamps. He was stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with a variety of Copic markers, which I'll list below. His snowy parts were painted with Ice Silks Acrylic Glaze

When the paint dried, he was ready for his close-up.


Hmm. That photo didn't show his true glittery goodness, so here's another where I tilted the paper!


See? He really does sparkle. This photo shows the sparkle and glitter from the Silks Glaze. It's dead easy to use and dries really quickly, which is super-fantastic for an impatient soul like me. By the way, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the Silks and a plethora of other great stuff are on sale at SCACD right now.

The drying time really didn't matter this time since I was busy with all sorts of Thanksgiving prep. When I went back to my craftroom, I stamped and cut a mask from Judikins Eclipse Tape, placed it over the Snow Wizard, and used Spellbinders Nestabilities dies (Labels 14) to die cut him and the patterned paper from the Jovial 6x6 pad by Basic Grey.

Pearlescent Pearl Shimmer Chalk was sponged over a stencil for the cloudy sky. I removed the mask and added some Viva Decor Hologram Glitter Liner to create a nice icy, snowy ground for him.

I layered some very old Basic Grey papers from the Figgy Pudding 6x6 pad and added a shimmery sticker border between the layers. The sentiment, Magical Greetings (WS-064-B) was stamped using Onyx Black VersaFine ink, which I prefer when stamping something highly detailed that won't be colored with Copics. I highlighted the sentiment with Pitch Black Spica Glitter pen and Clear Gelly Roll Stardust Pure Glitter Pen.

Thanks for visiting today

Copic markers used:
c00, C0, C1, C2
BG10, BG11, BG23, BG45, BG9 (which I used by accident, thinking it was B49 because I couldn't read my handwriting on the Ciao marker and didn't doublecheck. Whattadope!), and BG96
YR65, YR68

Jack Frost & Seasonal Confusion!

Last week we had Hurricane Sandy. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week we had the Nor'Easter that brought six inches of snow to my area. Today it was in the mid fifties and it's supposed to be 65° on Sunday. I'm confused.

Yesterday I shared a spring card. So today I'll share a wintry one, since after all it is the time of year, when thoughts turn to the winter holidays and cold weather. Maybe I'll confuse you too and then we can all be confused together. *giggle*



This is Frosty Jack (AP-454-M) from Third Coast Rubber Stamps. He was stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with a variety of Copic markers, which I'll list below. I masked him using Winsor & Newton masking liquid. When it was dry, I airbrushed B0000, BV0000, N0, N1, and N2 around him to add a cloudy/cool colored background. I peeled off the masking fluid and die cut him using Nestabilities Labels 14.

Ice Silks Acrylic Glaze was painted on his frosty breath and on the snow flakes that surround him. It was my first time using it and it's way cool (pun intended). It dries shimmery, yet shiny and a bit raised. Best of all, it dried really quickly.

Then I added a layer of Frost Gelate by Art Anthology the ground to make it look like icy snow. Gelate is a dimensional gel that has sparkly mica suspended in it. I also used the Gelate to edge around the die cut.

I used the Frost Gelate and the Let It Snow Dylusions stencil by Ranger and The Crafter's Workshop. I brushed the Gelate over the stencil onto silver speckled blue/gray cardstock by Club Scrap. I spread it on fairly thick, waited a few minutes, then lifted it. The Gelate dried fairly quickly, though I left it to cure overnight. I hope you can see how sparkly and textured it is!

I cut down the piece, layered it over shimmery metallic mint-colored cardstock by Club Scrap and then added Jack. I decided not to add a sentiment yet because I don't know if I'll use this as a holiday card or a Winter-themed birthday card. Time will tell.

Thanks for visiting today!

Copic Markers used:
Skin: E000, E00, E4, R20
Hair: C5, C6, C7
Clothing: B91, B93, B95, B97; G000; G00
Background: B0000, BV0000, N0, N1, N2
Outlined with B60

Eek! Arachnophobic?

Do you suffer from arachnophobia? If so, you might want to click away right now.



Third Coast's Kitty & Cat (VB-317-M) can be found on page 25 of the Halloween 2009 supplement to the catalog! They were stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then colored it with Copic markers, which I'll list below. The trim on her hat was colored with Pitch Black Copic Glitter Pen and Orange Copic Spica Glitter pen. His eyes were coated with a layer of Glossy Accents and left to dry.

After they were dry, the entire thing was coated with a layer of Winsor & Newton Liquid Mask, then airbrushed with N4, YR12, and YG21. For some reason, the N marker spit a little, but it was okay with me. What wasn't okay was that her skirt became a bit orange from the mask, so I had to add more YR12 to her outfit. Oh well.

White cardstock was diecut with the Creepy Web Frame by Memory Box and layered over the stamped and airbrushed scene which had been cut with the Debuntante Frame. Three Dangling Spiders were die cut from black cardstock. The dangling web was cut from two of the three spiders. The spiders' bodies were popped up on a dimensional square, but their legs were adhered to the surface of the card.

The patterned paper is from the Eerie Basic Grey collection. "EEK" was made from glitter stickers that were adhered to a Black Soot Distress ink sponged Spellbinders Ribbon Tags 3 (which happens to be on sale right now!). The ribbon is from Michael's.

Thanks for visiting today!

Copic markers:
Skin: YR0000, YR000, YR00, RV000, BV20
Hair: B41, C3, C5, C6, C7, C8
Dress: C3, C4, C6, C6, C7 & YR12 (grrr)
Cat: C6, C7, C8, YG21, YG25
Pumpkin: YR12, YR14, YR27

It's the witching hour!

This card does not have patterned paper, which these days, is a rare thing for me. I decided it just didn't need it! So there.



It features Witch's Flight Large (CO-180-O) by Third Coast Rubber Stamps, which was stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers, which I'll list below. The image was masked using Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid. A circle was die cut using a Nestabilities die from Eclipse tape, which was placed over the witch to create the moon. The night sky was airbrushed with the Copic Airbrush System using my favorite night sky combo of markers -- B66, B69, and B79. Copic Opaque White was loaded onto a toothbrush using a toothpick. The toothbrick was passed over the top of the toothbrush, which spritzed white randomly over the sky to become stars.

SCACD's Classic Corner die was used to die cut white metallic cardstock and used on three corners of the stamped and airbrushed scene. Alice's Clock Statement Corner die was used on the bottom right hand corner of the card.

White Glitter Stickers by Making Memories was used to create the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting today.

Copics used:
Skin: E000, E00, E11, BV20, R20
Hair: V000, C3, C5 C6, C7, C10
Hat: C1, 100 & v000, V01, V95 & V12 for the feather
Dress: V000, V01, V95 & c1, C3, 100
Broom: E55, E57, E59 & Y21, Y23, Y26
Sky: B66, B69, B79
Outline: B60

This card shall be entered into the following challenges:
• Craft Your Passions #132: Which witch is which?
• Simon Says Challenge: Eerie Inspiration

Beware!

Isn't she fierce? Her name is Batty for Halloween (VB-288-R) and she hails from the Fae world, via Third Coast Rubber Stamps. You can find her on page 4 of the Halloween 2008 catalog supplement!

She was colored with Copic markers (listed below). The patterned paper is very old Halloween Paper from Making Memories. I bought a pack that had 5 sheets of each pattern and I still have a ton. However, since I love Halloween and spooky images, my supply is beginning to dwindle. She was diecut with Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 10, which happens to be on sale for 30% off at SCACD. It's one of the more useful labels because it's larger than a lot of them.

I couldn't come up with a suitable sentiment, so I settled for "Beware" done with Press Type on a die cut with an Alterations die. If you want to see an enlargement, click on the photo. I can't figure out how to get bigger images. Oh well.

Copic markers used:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, E23
Lips: R56
Hair: YR31, E7, E19
Dress: V91, V93, V95
Boots: C3, C4, C6, C7
Wings: ditto
Spear (metal part): tritto
Spear (wood part): E41, E44, E59, E79
Ground: T0, T2
Outline: Y0000, Y000

Thanks for visiting today!

Bad Dragon Pun card!

Meet Dragon Biff (PR-035-R)from Third Coast Rubber Stamps. I don't think he breathes fire. I think he's way mellower than that. I think he's a New Age hipster dragon because of his feathered and fluff-ball earrings. I think he's the perfect dragon to cheer up someone who is draggin'. Just sayin'. Plus, I think I clearly think too much.

Anyway, Dragon Biff (PR-035-R) was stamped onto Neenah cardstock using Tuxedo Black Memento ink, then colored with Copic markers. He's a bit like a mood ring and changes colors with his mood. Today he felt like being bright green and purple with blue feathers and orange sparkly eyes. Why wouldn't he? His eye was touched up with a Gelly Roll Pure Sparkle Glitter pen, then coated with Gelly Roll Glaze pen to make 'em shiny and dimensional as well as sparkly. His fangs were also coated with the Glaze pen. I run through those things like water!

I found the perfect papers to match him in some old Basic Grey 6x6 pads, namely Euphoria and Marjolein. I just layered 'em up and added a punched border that reminded me of his teeth. The sentiment is Doodlebug rub-ons (why did they stop making this size???) onto a die cut cut from Basic Grey lined white paper from an ever-so-useful Basics White pad. The smudges are from my still inkstained fingers. Oh well. Perfection is overrated.

Thanks for visiting today!

'Tis the season!

No! Not that season. My favorite season...

Labor Day has passed. The kids have gone back to school! The days are getting longer. All that means is that Halloween approacheth! Since it's my favorite season, I have a very large collection of Halloween-themed stamps, papers, and other goodies (that don't go thump in the night).

Third Coast Rubber Stamps has tons and tons of fun and fabulous Halloween stamps. Here's a card that features one of them that just joined my collection.



The stamp is called Witch's Supply Truck (DT-339-P), which can be found on page 12 of the Halloween 2008 supplement.Doesn't it remind you of one of the food trucks from The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Channel? Too bad there's not a Tyler Florence stamp. That would be amazing!

Here's a close-up to see the fabulous goodies that are on the truck.


I did something I rarely do. I colored it before I chose the patterned papers. As usual, I used Copic markers. I used way too many to list, so I won't. *grin* There's Glaze pen over the windshield, headlight, and all the glass jars and bottles. Sadly, the photo doesn't show their glassy shine.

The patterned paper is from an old 6x6 Eerie pad by Basic Grey. I never really could figure out what to do with that specific paper, but this works for me! I added a vellum light beam because I could. The sentiment was die cut using the banners by Alterations. I used some very, very old rub-ons from back when I was in publishing and did paste-up mechanicals. Now that dated me, didn't it? Anyways, both the truck and the sentiment banner were popped up on dimensional adhesive. I used some nifty new-to-me roadway Washi tape for the roadway.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenge:
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge "Put a Stamp on it"

Steampunk Pink -- Third Coast Coterie Challenge!

Here's my card for the Steampunk Pink challenge over at the Third Coast Coterie Challenge Blog!

Leigh, our lovely and talented challenge coordinator says:

You can make anything you want...card, ATC, altered domino if you're still rocking the doms or tag, etc, as long as it screams Steampunk!

The twist for this challenge is you MUST incorporate the colour PINK into your projects!

We want to see all kinds of Steampunk projects from grungy pink to fluffy bubblegum pink and anything in between. So whatever your style is or favourite shade of pink your project is welcome here ;0)

TCCC#4 runs for nearly 2 weeks and ends on Sept 12. Winner and Coterie Top 3 will be announced Friday Sept 14 when the next challenge starts.

One randomly drawn winner will receive a fab $25 gift certificate to Third Coast Rubber Stamps!

Here's my card!


Danica (VB-138-L), found on page 15 was colored with Copic markers. I added two tiny watch parts to her hat to give her more of the Steampunk vibe.

Danica is walking on a sidewalk composed of Single Gear Small (CO-284-EE) from page 14 of the Spring '12 supplement, which were stamped in Grey Flannel Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. She was masked with Winsor & Newton Masking fluid. Cool Gray 00 & 01 were airbrushed through the Steampunk stencil by The Crafter's Workshop.

Gear Corner Narrow (CO-278-G) from page 16 of the Spring '12 Supplement was stamped, "fussy cut", and adhered to the matted scene with brads.

Pink cardstock took a trip through my Big Shot in a Sizzix Alterations (Gears) folder and was sponged with Slate Grey Ancient Page ink to make the gears pop out a bit more. This was layered over some very, Very, VERY old KI Memories silvery alphabet paper that had taken a ride through the Big Shot in a Cuttlebug Timeworks folder.

The card was finished with a sentiment from the late, lamented Odd Bird Planet, which was stamped onto a QuicKutz ribbon slide, which was slid onto a silver ribbon.

Thanks for visiting today!

Dominos v2.0

I told you last week that I'd be back with more altered dominoes for the domino challenge over at Third Coast Creative Coterie Challenge Blog, so here they are.





This time I stamped the images onto cardstock, colored them with Copic markerss, adhered the stamped, colored cardstock to the dominoes with gel medium. When it was dry, I sanded off the excess paper from the edges of the dominos. They were heat emboss with clear embossing powder and a layer of Glossy Accents was added to them. Then they were left overnight to cure completely.

When that was done, I colored the edges of the dominoes with Pentel Metallic pen. Ultra-stinky E6000 was used to adhere large pewter beads to the top of the dominoes to act as bales.

The dominoes were left in the garage for a few days to become dry and less stinky. When I could deal with them, I added leather cording and took the photos of the necklaces posed on a black office chair. If you look closely, you can see the cat fur on the chair. How exciting!

I should mention that I used a rub-on from Wordsworth/Rubber Soul for "dance" on the dancer domino. I also used metallic pens by Pentel on the sides of the dominoes.

The stamps that I used were Wise Old Wizard Small (DT-114-D) from Third Coast's Early Spring '07 supplement and Chile Ristra (AP-184-G) from Third Coast's Summer '05 supplement.

Thanks for visiting today!

Steampunk Kitty!

Behold the Steampunk Kitty, who is master of all he surveys! His watch keeps him on schedule, his goggles keep the UV rays to a minimum, and his breathing apparatus enables him to breathe while flying about in the upper atmosphere. He's one cool cat!



Steam Kitty (KG-050-L) lives on page 28 of the Spring '12 Supplement. He was colored with Copic markers. Glossy Accents was added to his eyes, goggle lenses, and watch face. I also used Solid Gears Border Large (CO-277-I) can be found on page 15 of the Spring '12 Supplement, Gear Corner Narrow (CO-278-G) can be found on page 16., and Steampunk Grunge (WS-185-D) is on page 18.

The patterned papers are from the 6x6 Timepiece pad by Bo-Bunny!

This card shall be entered in the following challenge(s)!
• Simon Says Stamp & Show: No Rules challenge

Third Coast Creative Coterie Challenge!

Uh-oh Domino! That's right, Third Coast Creative Coterie Challenge Blog is holding an Altered Domino challenge! Leigh, who is in charge of the Challenge Blog, is also known as the Sharpie Domino Queen, so it's only fitting that she challenged us to use our Third Coast stamps to create altered dominos! You should participate for a chance to win a fabulous prize!!!

These are the dominos that were part of my Fubar run last week. I had initially stamped with Adirondack ink, heat set, then colored them with Prismacolor markers. I heat set them again. Then when I went to test them, the ink got all smeared. Bummer. So I put them aside and called the project a failure.

The next day, I decided that I would stamp on cardstock, color with my beloved Copics, then adhere them to the domino, heat emboss, the coat with Glossy Accents. But being a frugal me, I thought that I should recycle the Fubarred dominos by cleaning them off with rubbing alcohol.

I was shocked and delighted to see that the smears disappeared with some of the ink, leaving subdued pastel images behind. Here they are!

Eastern Dancer (VB-123-C) from Third Coast's Early Spring 07 supplement


Wise Old Wizard Small (DT-114-D) from Third Coast's Early Spring 07 supplement


Chile Ristra (AP-184-G) from Third Coast's Summer '05 supplement.


Once I saw that these were so cool, I went ahead and altered an additional three dominos using the same stamps as above. I'll share those next week!

Meanwhile, go hop on over to the Third Coast Creative Coterie Challenge Blog and see what the other gals have created.

Thanks for visiting today!

Oops! Or time flies...

Greetings earthlings! I bet you were wondering what had happened to me, that is all three of you who visit my blog. Ha!

I haven't stopped crafting. I was just busy getting stuff submitted and trying my hand at some new stuff. If you look down at the sidebar on the right, you'll notice that my blog is sporting a spiffy new item.

Yep. I attended an Intermediate Copic class last week and am newly certified. The class was taught my the enthusiastic, entertaining, and super-talented Colleen Schaan with an able assist by the lovely and also-seriously talented Lori Craig.

It was a long class, but I was sitting with some fabulous people and I learned a lot. I'm embracing "the dark side" with my color choices and am trying to use what I've learned. I'm still processing a lot of the information, which will no doubt result in some total failures. That's cool because I do learn from my mistakes. It's odd for me to plan light sources and such like. I guess I'm not used to thinking while I create. :D

Here's one of my experiments.


The stamp is Hailey's Heart (AB-007-V) from Third Coast's Spring 2012 supplement. She and her sister live on page 53.

I was trying to get away from "Vampire" coloring, which is totally out of my comfort zone. I was really happy using very light colors with subtle shading for the skin of my people. This one uses E000, E02, and E4. Yikes. Really, really scary. I went with some fairly strong contrast on her face because she's on the edgier side.

I also learned that people really do have halos, especially me. *snicker* So, I put a halo into her hair. I also added two cast shadows. Brave me.

The patterned papers are ancient Daisy Bucket papers that had hearts and dots and worked well with my plan, so I matched the BG colors and R colors to the paper. I cut the sentiment pinked circle from the patterned paper and added a few gemstones to finish it. I used one of my tried and true "go to" designs, because I was feeling lazy.

Why was I feeling lazy? Well, I colored her once, then a C3 marker ran dry, so I refilled it and it dripped directy into the center of her face. FUBAR#1. So I stamped it and colored it again. The eyes came out blotchy, so I made them the last thing to do. I fixed the pupils with black, then proceeded to color the irises. Except, I colored the white of the left eye, after coloring the right eye correctly. *sigh. FUBAR#2. So I went for the hat trick, but didn't screw it up. Woot! Yay me.

In addition to those two epic fails, I also have been trying to stamp and color on dominos with totally ghastly results. Twice. Sigh.

Anyways, thanks for visiting today!

Queen of everything...

Simon Says Stamp & Show "What do you say?" challenge has inspired me to create this card. Actually, the challenge made me go through my stickers and rub-ons to organize them. While going through those drawers, I found some great cat-themed stuff.

Hence, this card...


which is based on this sketch from Craft Your Passions challenge blog:


I flipped the sketch and used crowns instead of flowers.

Pretty Kitty (VB-108-J) by Third Coast Rubber Stamps reminds me of my familiar, Duchess, who is a fluffy tabby ragdoll/American shorthair mix. However, there is no way that Duchess would deign to wear a frilly collar like that. She's way too regal. This Pretty Kitty stamp lives on page 17 of the New Year '07 supplement.

Anyways, I was so happy with the trees in the Painted Ladies card (below) that I decided to use the same dot technique, using the W series of Copic markers. I dotted the lightest color, dotted the darker colors, blended them out, added some shading,tabby striping, and suchlike. I got a bit heavy-handed with the blending and the blender wasn't pushing the color back into the lines, so I opted to outline the kitty with a darker color and chose a BV marker. I wanted to use some papers from my stash that had crown designs and came up with MME Bohemia and Imaginisce cardstock and matched custom less-than-R81, R81, R83, and R85 for the collar and ribbons.

The sticker on the upper right is from 7 Gypsies and the rub-on on the bottom left is from Junkitz (Remember them?).

The crowns were cut from shimmery white cardstock using a QuicKutz die. I adorned the crown with purple and lavender gems.

I'm sewing impaired and this apparently applies to faux-stitching too. I used an EK Success rolling poker gizmo tool with a scoring board, then used Spica Lavender glitter pen to add the faux stitching. Poorly.

So there you have it.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall be entering this card in these challenges:
• Simon Says Stamp & Show "What do you say?" challenge
• Outlawz Copic/Promarker Friday: "Anything Goes"
• Craft Your Passion # 121: Sketch

Bon Voyage stash!

This one is completely "out of my box", so I should be saying Bon Voyage box! I also used a ton of older stuff from my stash, plus some neglected tools! I had fun creating it though, so that's what counts. Now someone just has to go on a trip so I can send it to them.

Here it is!


My focal image is the Third Coast's Painted Ladies (WT005-S) stamp, which is located on page 21 of the Spring 2012 catalog supplement.

It was stamped with Onyx VersaFine ink and heat set. The Painted Ladies were colored with Copic markers. Being me, I googled Painted Ladies and found a photo that was close to the scene in the stamp. I then chose my colors accordingly. When I was done coloring, I (finally remembered) to add clear Glaze pen to the windows to add dimension and shine. I masked the image using Winsor & Newton masking fluid and airbrushed with my custom less-than-B21 and B21 Copic markers.

Then the big fun started. I wanted the card to look vintage collage-y. First I chose script text patterned cardstock from DCWV's Timeless Type 8x8 stack and a collage-style piece that had a San Francisco postmark. I cut that out and got out an old, Old, OLD Stampin' Up "Postal Card" stamp, which was stamped to the left of the postmark.

Then I raided my sticker drawer and found ancient Nostalgique stickers by EK Success. I should mention that I didn't initially find what I wanted, so I pulled three drawers out of my Iris cart, dumped them, and re-organized them for 45 minutes. ADHD is so much fun.

Anyway, I used some tags from one of the sticker sheets, but I first scratched 'em up with my handy-dandy Tonic-Tim scratcher tool. Then I sponged Distress over 'em and distressed the edges with my Tonic-Tim distresser. The stickers were looking a bit empty, so I pulled out a sheet of 7 Gypsies rub-ons from the Whimsey sheet and added the pointing hand and clock to the tags. The tag with the hand still needed something, so I added a 7 Gypsies sticker (Historic location) to it. Much better. I found a humongo eyelet and added it to the sticker using my neglected Cropadile and then hammered the be-jeepers out of it using my Tonic-Tim hammer.

The sticker with the clock was added to the San Francisco/Postal piece to cover up a playing card and an eyelet was set. Red, white, and blue twine was dragged across an Old Paper Distress pad to get rid of the whiteness. Then the twine was wrapped around the tag/SF postal piece and through the tags hole. I echoed the twine wrapping thing on the left.

I had to use lots of dimensionals to pop the Painted Ladies focal piece over the twine, so I used two layers of ejection foam from QuicKutz. I kept all the excess foam because I knew it would come in handy one day. I also used some really, really old 3L photo corner stickers on three sides of the piece.

I dug into my sticker drawer some more and found two sheets of old typewriter-key dimensional stickers which I used for the sentiment. I also found some old QuicKutz rub-ons, so I used the "Bon Voyage" definition too. The bottom left corner looked lonely, so I added two rub-on keys from that same 7 Gypsies sheet.

I think I'm done blathering, so I'll say "Thanks for visiting today".

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
• Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge.
• Simon Says Stamp & Show "What do you say?" challenge
• Outlawz Copic/Promarker Friday: "Anything Goes"

Bring the Heat Blog Hop -- Post #2

See the post below for all the Smeared & Smudged Blog Hop information!

Here's my second card for the hop! Two posts in one day. Wow. Shock-a-roo!



Devilish Daphne (VB-121-M) lives on page 6 of Third Coast's Halloween'07 Supplement. She was stamped and colored with Copic markers, masked with Winsor & Newton masking fluid, airbrushed Y13 over the entire image panel, then airbrushed a few different Y and YR markers through the Flames stencil by The Crafter's Workshop. When I was done airbrushing the flames, I added some Black Soot Distress flames to add that sooty look. I peeled off the mask and added Spica glitter pen accents to her pitchfork, horns, and shoes. Glaze pen was added to her shoes and pitchfork to add dimension and shine. I drew a line in so it would like as if she were walking a tightrope over the flames of Hades.

The Thermometers (FA-517-J), from page 17 of the Spring '12 catalog were stamped with Onyx VersaFine ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. They were colored with Copic markers. Red Spica glitter pen was added to the mercury tube. and then Glaze pen was added to make 'em dimensional and shiny.

The background of the card was airbrushed using the same colors as above, though I cheated and started with some yellow cardstock.

The sentiment was computer generated.

Thanks for visiting today.

Just in case you missed the hop, here's the list again!
Tori

Black Dragon

Windy

Jane

Shell

Susan S.

Madelein Bouquet

Lady Brayton

Kristy

Glittery Katie

Alison

Lisa

Bombshell Stamps Blog

Wendy

Kathi

Dianne

I shall be entering this card in the following challenge(s):
• Simon Says Stamp & Show: "Anything Goes"

Spread your wings -- Steampunk Style

Here's a card using the new Aviator Parakeet (KG-049-J) from Third Coast Rubber Stamps. He lives on page 49 of the new Spring 2012 catalog.



Do you know that parakeets come in oodles of color variations? I didn't, so I googled and found one that I felt like using. This variety will make this guy a frequent flyer on my blog.

Anyway, Aviator Parakeet (KG-049-J) was colored with Copic markers. Glaze pen was added to his beak, eyes, and goggle lenses for dimension and shine.

Old Lily Kate Basic Grey patterned papers from my scrap stash were layered, placed inside an often used Clockworks Cuttlebug folder, and run through the Big Kick. Once out, Pumice Stone and Brushed Corduroy Distress inks were sponged on and a touch of Stonewashed Adirondack ink was added as well.

The sentiment from the late, lamented Odd Bird Planet was stamped onto another scrap of Lily Kate paper, die cut, and layered onto another die cut and a wonkily cut strip of Lily Kate paper. All edges were sponged because I can't abide white edges. Yes. I'm picky. After all, I'm a Virgo.

The finishing touch was to add Ideology Game Spinners and some matching brads.

Thanks for visiting today!

Gnome Pun Groaner Alert

Third Coast Creative Coterie has assigned dates to post on the TCCC blog. I was assigned July 4th, but my Third Coast stamp collection was lacking in patriotic stamps. So, I put on my thinking cap and this is what sprang into my head.



I'll admit to chortling maniacally whilst creating this one. I also had another incident that reflects somewhat interestingly upon my mental state. After I bore you with the details about this card, I'll relate that story. That way you can always skip ahead or click away. You probably will opt for the click after this groaner of a pun card.

So, the gnome is Gned Gnome (AP-157-C) and he resides on page 19 of the Summer '05 Catalog. He was colored with Copic markers and the buttons of his braces were touched with black Glaze pen for dimension and shine.

The flag banner is a digi from a free digital stamp set of four flags from Bombshell Stamps. Free digital stamps are available to all Bombshell Newsletter subscribers. The newsletter is very informative and exceedingly well written ;). Plus, if you subscribe by 7/3/12, you'll be in the running to win a $100 Bombshell Shopping Spree. Click HERE to subscribe. The winner will be selected on July 4th.

The flag banner was also colored with Copic markers using the same colors I used for the Gnome. I added "Land of the free... Gnome of the brave" using Photo Elements.

By the way, Third Coast has a new challenge blog that kicked off yesterday. Here's a link to it. You should play along to win a fabulous prize!

So, on to my story. I had finished coloring both the gnome and the flag banner and was starting to design the card. I was trying out various patterned papers and such. I thought to myself, "Self, you have some bangin' red/white and blue/white star ribbon. Go find it and see what'll work." So, I dutifully got the big plastic bag that hold my unsorted ribbon and various ribbon scraps and suchlike. I couldn't find either ribbon. So I got down the second bag. Same result. Got down the third one. Yep. Still couldn't find it. Meanwhile Gned was waiting a bit less patiently to be put onto a card. I dumped out all three bags on top of poor Gned. Still couldn't find either the red/white star or blue/white star ribbon. Sigh. So I started to sort the ribbon by color and finally found both color combos. Score! But I now had a foot high pile of ribbons all over my work surface. An hour and a half later, I had all the ribbon into plastic bags by color. I probably could have spent a few more hours because I got a bored with wrapping ribbon around my hand and just started stuffing the bags (still sorted by color).

After finding the ribbon, I did not feel like sorting through more patterned paper. I was "out of sorts". *snort* I used plain red ribbed cardstock and some shimmery blue vellum. I finished the card in the very wee hours of the morning. I know this because the birds started singing up a storm. *sigh*

So not only am I a compulsive bad-gnome-pun creator, but also tetched with some ADD and/or OCD.

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges:

• Simon Says Challenge: Sporty or Patriotic
• Outlawz Greetings: Anything Goes
• Sisterhood of Crafters: Seeing Stars challenge
• Craft Punked: Week 26: Independence Day

Sketch Challenge! Meet Ms. Priss!

Miss Priss, (CO-128-J) from Third Coast's p. 29 of the Early Spring 2008 catalog, reminds me of my familiar Duchess (see my profile photo). She's beautiful, sassy, and very mischievous.

This card was prompted by Duchess' recent activity with her partner-in-crime, Flash, our handsome Tuxedo cat. Apparently we had a mouse in da house. Then we had the thrill of the chase, followed by torture, followed by mouse-a-cide, which left a corpus mouse-us on the stairs. Thankfully, this time the hubby was home to find and discard the corpus disgustus, though he didn't leave a chalk outline.

Way back when, I had a series of cards featuring Odd Bird Planet's Priscilla, who reminded me of Duchess because she was pretty and poofy. Priscilla had a bunch of adventures, which amused the heck out of me. If you want to read Priscilla's adventures and see the cards, type "Priscilla" into the "search" function below on the right.

Therefore, I will be starting a new series featuring Ms. Priss, who is one of the Fanci-Cats from Third Coast Rubber Stamps.

Whereas I did not use a mouse (this time), this card speaks to a similar adventure.

I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday's Week #211 sketch! I did flip it!

Here's the sketch!


Here's my card!


Ms. Priss was colored with Copic markers in shades of warm gray and RV11.

The birdcage is an Odd Bird Planet stamp and was colored with Copic markers. The birdcage and Ms. Priss were masked with Winsor & Newton liquid mask. The feather, from an old Stampin' Up set, was repeatedly stamped in the cage and around Ms. Priss. They were colored (guess what colorant?) and also masked. Then I airbrushed the background and peeled up the mask. I added Glaze pen to the cage. I resisted adding little red drops around the cage. I figured that would be overkill. (pun intended).

The patterned papers are all from a My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 6x6 pad. Both Pumice Stone & Old Paper Distress inks were sponged on all edges as I can't abide white edges.

Matte Accents was used to adhere patterned paper to the clear buttons. Then I listened to Jodi's voice in my head and threaded the buttons with pink thread.

I haven't decided on a sentiment yet, so that will come later when it's actually sent to someone!

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall be entering this card in the following challenge(s):
• Sketch Saturday #211
• Craft Your Passion #114: Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes
• Oozak Challenge Blog: Two Papers & an Embellie

Imagine, Wonder, Time -- Steampunk!!!

Way back when, before I started papercrafting, I was an avid reader. I discovered fantasy and science fiction way back in college (when dinosaurs roamed the "Magic Mountain" in rural Ohio). After graduation, I re-read Jules Verne, then discovered William Gibson, who has been associated with both the cyber-punk and steampunk subsets of science fiction.

You're probably asking yourself, "Why in heck is she blathering on about all this?" The answer is that when I start making cards using steampunk images, I like to put them in fantasy type scenes.

Like this:


The landscape is composed of layered striped patterned paper adhered to a matching pattern from the same My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hazel 6x6 pad. This was placed into my often-used Timeworks Cuttlebug folder for a ride through my Big Kick. When it came out, I sponged both Weathered Wood and Peacock Feathers Distress ink over the high spots of the embossing, then edged it using Black Soot Distress ink.

The Clockworks-Dark (FA-519-I) stamp from page 14 of the new catalog was stamped onto pale yellow paper using Wild Honey Distress Ink. This was die cut using a Pinked Circle Nestabilities, then kept in the die so I could use a great new tool, Ranger’s Inkssentials Craft Nibs & Nib Holder, to add more Distress Ink into the edgy bits. This piece was then cut in half and slid under the top most "hill".

Clouds were cut from checkered vellum using Memory Box' Clouds and strewn about the sky.

The Victorian Boots (FA-516-I) stamp from page 10. was stamped using Onyx Black VersaFine ink, heat set, then colored with Copic markers. The buttons were highlighted with Glaze pen to give them some dimension and shine. Small Grungeboard wings were painted with a silver Adirondack Paint Dabber, which also added some texture. They were layered and then the boot was added using a double layer of dimensional foam.

I knew that I hoarded stuff for a reason! I found the perfect words for this scene in my stash. They're Tim Holtz/Junkitz clear epoxy stickers. They were so old that I had to peel the cellophane wrapper off of them!

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall be entering this card in the following challenge(s):
• Simon Says Stamp & Show "Texture" challenge

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"