Bombshell's Hump Day Hop!!!

Alison, our lovely and talented Bombshell Blog Captain, has decreed that the theme for this hop is Three Cheers for Summer!

Here's what Alison had to say about the hop theme.

The theme is..."3 Cheers for Summer!" What's that about? Ya gotta make a Summer themed project...but there's gotta be either the number 3, or 3 of something on your project. 3 eyelets, 3 patterned papers, etc. Simple! And fun!

I hope you got here from Torrey's blog. She's fabulous, don'tchathink?

My project isn't done yet, so hop along to check out Kelli's project.

Bwa ha ha. Better late than never, though the way this was going and with all the interruptions, it's a miracle it's completed.


The card features the pin-up from Bombshell's Cherry Bomb set with a new hairdo. It's her birthday, so she got three wishes. She got two of them and is waiting anxiously for the third wish to come true.

Her three martinis are from the Lady Luck set.

The Genie Lamp (AP-346-J) stamp is from Third Coast Rubber Stamps.

The pin-up, martini glasses, and genie lamp were colored with Copic markers and all were "fussy cut", then added to the card using dimensionals.

The big die cut is an Alterations die that cut through all those layers of cardstock.

My "threes" are the QuicKutz die cut number, the three martinis, the three vellum elements, and stuff in three of the four corners.

Here's the hop list!

Bombshell Blog
Alison
Mary G.
Jodi
Stempelientje
Kim
Rachael
Laura
Alaine
Cassie
Glittery Katie
Susie
Torrey
Kathi
Kelli

I have entered this card in the following challenge(s):
• The Kraft Journal #77: Anything Goes

My home state

Outlawz is having a party. I made this card for the "Where in the World" challenge that's sponsored by the Copic/Promarker Friday Group. Since I was itching to use gingham for the curtains, it qualifies for Moxie Fab World's Gingham challenge as well.



Whereas I am a native New Yorker and have lived many different places, I've called New Jersey my home for more than two decades. Both New York and New Jersey are known for their classic diners, so Outlawz' challenge was the perfect excuse to use this wonderful Diner (SKU:83-18) stamp by Rubbernecker.

The diner was stamped and colored with Copic markers. Spica Glitter pen was used to highlight the image. I used my craft knife to cut out the windows.

I then stamped image onto white cardstock and then stamped just the window area onto red gingham cardstock. I colored the white cardstock windows with B000 Copic marker and clear Spica Glitter pen to make 'em sparkly. I fussy cut the gingham curtains and adhered 'em to the colored windows. I adhered a strip of ink jet transparency over the curtained windows, then adhered the diner over that piece. The entire diner was masked and a cloudy sky and a grassy lawn were airbrushed with the Copic Airbrush system.

My husband gave me a New Jersey map for the cause. I love using old maps for my crafting, so I swipe 'em whenever I can. (big grin).

The funky 50's-ish sign is a chipboard piece from the now defunct Deluxe Cuts company. I painted it with Picket Fence paint dabber, used Doodlebug rub-ons for "from" and used QuicKutz Khaki dies for the the lettering. A ring was used to circle my town and mini Khaki and Khaki shadow dies were used to cut the gingham paper.

The gingham cardstock may or may not be from AMuse. I got it from my now defunct LSS, which I miss.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges.
• "Where in the World" challenge
• Moxie Fab World's Gingham challenge

Anniversary Gatefold Card

Greetings! Here's another project that got away from me. So odd when that happens, but I just "go with the flow" and see what happens!

This card was prompted by Craft Your Passion's Flips & Fold challenge. I'm ever-so-boring and usually do regular fold cards, so I decided to do a gatefold card.

I was also prompted by Simon Says Stamp & Show's "Brown" challenge, so the card is predominantly brown.

Lastly, I was inspired by this stamp, May I have this dance (VB-239-P) from pg. 5 of Third Coast Stamps Late Winter 2008 supplement. It made me think of Cinderella, hence the blue dress, though I could see coloring it in white for a wedding card or any other color for other occasions as well.

Outside with Belly Band


Inside:


Detail of "Belly Band":


I tried some new stuff for this card. A while back, someone had told me that the Fiskar's fingertip craft knife made cutting things a snap, so being me, I bought it and used it for some stuff but never for "fussy cutting" an entire image. Then someone else told me that a glass mat made all the difference in the world when using a craft knife. I already had one of those, but used it with my hot knife for cutting EZ foam, so it was rather gooped up with excess adhesive. Then my daughter's friend gifted me with a second glass mat, so I tried using a regular kraft knife on it and was delighted, so I decided to try "fussy cutting" this rather detailed image with the fingertip craft knife on the glass mat and was excited by the result.

So that was the first thing that was new.

The second thing was digitally manipulating patterned paper to make it work for my purposes. Since I was kind if in the "Cinderella" mode, I needed a nice background for my couple. I had an 8x8 Once Upon a Time pad by DCWV, but the piece I wanted to use wasn't working. The couple would have been like the 50' woman (Do you remember that movie?) and Paul Bunyon. So I scanned the sheet, scaled it up, and printed it a few times to use for the outside, the inside, and the belly band (that term reminds me of those wacky weight loss commercials. I don't know about you, but I LOVE the idea of having a vibrating belt make my belly disappear).

So, I separated the couple for the outside of the card by masking their hands before inking the stamp. The I stamped the couple a second time, fussy cut them using my handy-dandy glass mat-fingertip kraft knife combo), and colored 'em with Copic markers.

Please note that the print on the belly band lines up with the patterned paper underneath it. I'm cool like that. :D "Once Upon a Time" came from the small pad. (Yes, I have the 4" x 6" pad and the 8" x 8" pad.) It was cut with a Nestabilities heart die. The gold paper is this super-cool wrinkly gold paper that I found in the box where I keep my Dresden trim.

"And they lived happily ever after." was die cut using some old Indigo QuicKutz dies. The sentiment is a sticker by Stampendous and it's on an Alterations die cut banner.

Ta-dah! I'm done blathering on endlessly. At least for this post.

Except for two more things.

1) Thanks for visiting today!

2) I shall enter this card in the following challenges.
• Craft Your Passions #115: Flips and Folds
• Simon Says Stamp & Show: A Bit of Brown challenge
• Paper Play Challenge: 2012-Week 25: Die cuts!
• Crafts & Me Challenges: #89: Anything Goes

I can do cute too! Earth Angel!

My cards and projects can be dictated by my moods. Sometimes I feel dark and edgy. Sometimes I feel flirty. Sometimes I feel punny. Sometimes I feel whimsical. And every now and then I feel cute. This is one of those days.

I was inspired by the stamp, some older papers by Fancy Pants, and by a sketch I found online.

Sunday Sketch & Stamp's Sketch #111


My take on the sketch:


The super-cute Earth Angel is by Elizabeth Bell for SCACD. Since I'm an aging hippie, her outfit and that little peace sign on her wing totally spoke to me. I also figured that she was versatile and could just as easily be blowing on a flower or a heart or a bird or a butterfly or for a Season's Greetings card. So I bought her.

She was colored with Copic markers, which I know is a total shock. Her wings were touched up with some Spica Clear glitter pen. I took my color palette from the very old Sweet Pea patterned papers by Fancy Pants, which I found in my scrap bin! I also have some untouched 12x12 pieces from that collection (and many others). I'm trying to use my stash when I can. All edges were sponged with Pearl Paint Dabber. The die cut scalloped circle was sprayed with Perfect Pearls Pearl mist.

The sentiment was computer generated and says "Imagine: Peace & Love". Remember what I said about my youth?

The flowers were diecut from patterned paper, except for the innards of the large flower which were punched with a pistil/stamen/flower-centery punch from Punch Bunch and the daisy from EK Success.

The pearls are from Recollections.

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:

• Sunday Sketch & Stamp's Sketch #111
• Outlawz Copic/Promarker Friday Favorite Color Combo challenge (pink & blue)
• Oozak's Two Papers & an Embellie challenge

Happy Father's Day!

When I met husband in college, he played guitar. Some time afterwards he stopped playing and both of his guitars were given to his brother, who eventually passed them along to someone else.

My husband recently started playing again on a guitar borrowed from a friend. He got an electric guitar as an early Father's Day gift.

Therefore, this year, instead of a bicycle or wine card, his Father's Day card featured a guitar from Taylored Expressions' You're My Hero set.

The card was created using this week's sketch from Sketch Saturday.

Here's the sketch.


Here's the card.


You're My Hero set is cool because it includes a guitar neck and four different Fender-style guitar bodies.

The neck of the guitar was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink, colored with Copic markers, then masked with Winsor & Newton masking fluid. The solid-flame guitar body was stamped with Black Onyx VersaFine ink to achieve better ink coverage.

Both the blue and guitar print patterned papers are from Glitz Designs. The metallic silver flame patterned paper is from EK Success. I've hoarded both papers forever and save every scrap. Krylon Silver Leaf pen was used to edge almost all the edges since I can't abide white edges and to add a bit of metallic "pop".

The sentiment is by A Muse. I used a Father's Day sentiment inside the card and had my daughter write something for her father.

It's my first Father's Day without my Dad and I feel a bit sad and bereft. However, he's alive in my heart and my memories and that gives me some comfort.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter the card in the following challenges.
• Sketch Saturday: Week #212
• Craft Your Passion Challenge #114: "Anything Goes"
• Cards for Men: Challenge 12: Father's Day (this challenge was posted on June 4th which was my Dad's birthday.

June's Bombshell Sketch challenge!

As you know, I create monthly sketches over at Bombshell Stamps. Please feel free to grab your Bombshell stamps and have a go at the sketch. If you do create a project, please share it with us over at Bombshell's Forum and at Bombshell's Blog. Sharing your project at both web sites will give you two chances to win your choice of a free set of Bombshell Stamps! I think that's worth playing for!!! (Yes. I watch Survivor.)


Here's June's sketch:


Here's my take on the sketch:


My leopard is actually a panther from the Panther Tattoo set by Bombshell Stamps.

I googled "panther" to check coloration and markings and discovered that lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars are members of the genus panthera.

The panther stamp is actually a solid stamp, which I don't use often as I prefer open line images. I decided to make my panther into a leopard by trying something different. I stamped the panther using Butterscotch Adirondack ink by Ranger. I then colored over the ink using YR20, YR24, and YR27 Copic markers and added his spots using a C10 Copic marker.

My leopard was then painted with a layer of Winsor & Newton masking fluid, which was allowed to dry. I airbrushed E55 over the leopard, then layed the Wood Grain stencil from Crafter's Workshop over the piece and airbrushed with E57. When I was done, the mask was peeled off and I scratched the paper to add claw marks to the "wood".

A black Glaze gel pen was used to add both dimension and shine to the leopard's claws, nose, and eyes. An Inkssentials white gel pen was added to whiten his teeth.

An embossing stylus was used on the outline of the image and on certain lines to mark the edges. The cardstock was flipped over, put onto a piece of craft foam, and I went to work with the embossing stylus. This added extra dimension to the piece and made the leopard literally pop from the background.

Here's a close up that shows the embossed leopard:


The leopard print paper, used in the strips and behind the computer generated sentiment, was created by airbrushing white paper with the same YR24 and YR27 that I used on the leopard. The orange paper was then stamped repeatedly with Onyx VersaFine ink using the leopard-print stamp from the Bombshell Patterns set.

Black cardstock was embossed using a leopard-print embossing folder by Cuttlebug, that I was lucky to find marked down at Michael's.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
• Crafty Cats Weekly Challenge: Embossing
• Craft Your Passion #114: Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp & Show: Anything Goes
• Outlawz Twisted Thursdays: Anything Goes/Animal

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