Back again and certified!!!

You might have noticed that I've added a "Copic Certified" badge to my sidebar. Yep. I took a Copic Certification class at the beginning of August and learned a ton. I hope you'll start to see some improvement in my coloring!

Anyways, here's a card that I did for the Third Coast Creative Coterie, using Splitcoast's Sketch #346. It also meets the "What's Hot" Way to Use it challenge!



The Chile Ristra (AP-181-G), Summer '05, p.25 stamp is by Third Coast and was fun to color using one of the blending techniques that I learned during the Copic class. The patterned papers are from an old K & Company pad.

Thanks for visiting today!

Woe is me!

Once again, I've taken a long break from crafting and blogging, though I suppose I had a good excuse. Hurricane Irene came to visit, knocking out my power for 4.5 days. This meant that my sump pump couldn't do its job, which resulted in five inches of water in the basement. Irene also blew rain through a window, ruining drywall, and also through the exhaust fan in a bathroom, effectively destroying the tile in the shower.

I disconnected stereo equipment by flashlight, toted it upstairs, had friends come and help get the stuff I couldn't lift out of the basement, had the basement pumped out by an itinerant generator wielding pumper, then spent four days moving the contents out of the basement (record collection, cds, stereo equipment, books, more books, etc.), sorting the ruined from the salvageable, emptied the refrigerator and freezer, and basically wore myself to a frazzle. The power came back on Wednesday, then a clean-up crew came on Thursday and pulled out the carpeting, tore down some of the panelling, tore down the tiles and drywall in the shower, and set a bunch of fans and dryers. Turns out my roof has a pre-existing condition that I didn't know about it because I don't have wings to fly up to check it out. Go know.

Now I have to get the basement "man cave" remodeled, get the roof repaired or replaced, and then have the bathroom fixed. *sigh*

I couldn't really craft by flashlight or candle-light, so I didn't do much except read (miner's headlight) and rest. I finally did finish a card that I started before Irene arrived, but I submitted it and its partner to a magazine. Cross your fingers for me. If it doesn't make the cut, you'll see it eventually.

Po' po' me.

New Third Coast Halloween Stamps!!!

Woo-hoo!!! The brand-new Halloween stamps are up on Third Coast's web site. Click here to go check 'em out for yourself!

Best of all, all 166 of 'em are on sale for 20% off until September 10th!!! How cool is that???

Here's a card using Creepy Little Girl (AP-498-K) from the new release (p.9 of the Halloween 2011 Supplement), who I think has more attitude than creepiness.



She was colored with Copic markers. The patterned papers are by Making Memories.

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Feline Familiar!

Here's another card using one of the soon-to-be released new Halloween stamps by Third Coast Rubber Stamps. This stamp is named Witch's Kitten (CM-287). I love her because she looks like my feline familiar, Duchess (who you can see on the bottom right of the page).



The image was colored with Copic markers in Duchess-esq colors, though without her tabby face and darker ears. I stamped the small pentacle from her hat on tiny Technique Tuesday Tiles, colored them with Copics, added Spica Glitter markers, then embossed 'em with several layers of embosssing powder.

I think with a little fudging around, she'd make a fantastic Santa kitty, so stay tuned! *grin*

The patterned papers are Eerie from Basic Grey. So seriously bummed that this collection was retired. Doodlebug green rub-ons were used for the "boo", though I don't think this kitten is scary at all.

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Back to School!!!

It's almost time for the kiddies to go back to school, which means that my favorite holiday, Halloween, is right around the proverbial corner.

Here's a card using Ghoul Bus (AP-500-M ), one of the new Halloween stamps from Third Coast Rubber Stamps.



I stamped the Ghoul Bus, colored it with Copic markers, masked it, and sponged Distress Ink on the background. I punched a circle to create a reverse masked, then stamped the branches from the Large Birch Trunks (CM-055P) over the moon, masked the moon, then sponged ink over a cloud template to create a cloudy night sky.

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Shabby Chic Challege from Ms. August!

Bombshell Stamps' Ms. August, Milo Lilja, challenged us to create a Shabby Chic project using predominantly white and lace.

Here's my project.


I used Rose from Bombshell's Rose's Portrait set.

Rose was colored with Copic markers in some of their palest shades so she'd work with the challenge. Since I could've joined AARP several years ago, I decided to make Rose's hair gray. My white rose didn't come out right, so I opted to create a pale pink one and then used the same Copic markers to color the white roses from Michael's. Rose's earring was colored to match, then coated with a layer of clear Spica glitter pen, and a layer of clear Glaze pen to make it dimensional.

I used Nestabilities to cut the portrait oval, then used a larger oval Nestie as a guide to tear the vellum. The reverse of the oval was colored with the same pale red Copic marker.

White cardstock took a ride through my Big Kick inside of a Cuttlebug folder. Distress Inks were used to ink the embossed designs and to edge the punched border and all the other layers.

Lace, sparkly sheer pink ribbon, Copic-tinted flowers, and blush-colored pearls finished off the card.

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Dedicated to my father.

He fought hard, but after more than three weeks of a rollercoaster-like ride of steps forward and backward, my father passed away peacefully on the morning of July 17th.

It's been a difficult couple of weeks, during which my "mojo" completely left me. However, grief is a process and I'm beginning to make steps to regain some of the things that give me pleasure.

This card is dedicated to my father, Bill, who taught me, by example, how to be a "Big Fish" that is bold, bright, and brave.



The "big fish" is from the Koi Tattoo set by Bombshell Stamps and was colored with Copic markers. The cardstock base is gray in real life...

Thanks for visiting today!