Mark the Calendars

Please join us tomorrow (Wednesday, July 15th) on the Paperworks Co. blog at 6:00pm MT for something BIG and Exclusive! I'll be there chatting!

Here's a card that may give you an inkling of what's to come...

I stamped and coloured the lion, then added a bit of flock to make the mane ultra fuzzy!

Stamps: Safari Friends, Wild About You

Ink: Rich Cocoa

Paper: Tangerine Tango, Summer Sunrise, White, DCWV Safari Kids

Accessories, etc.: Copics, Nestabilities, ribbon, brads, pop dots, white flocking powder

Starving Artistamps/Doodle Factory Blog Hop!

Welcome to our new release BLOG HOP!
We are super excited to present our newest DoodleFactory release CLASSIC DECOR. Our designers have been having a blast working with these new images. It is with great pleasure that we also have some super talented special guests joining us for this hop. Be sure to visit ALL the stops on our hop because one of us has a complete collection of the new Classic Decor release to giveaway as blog candy!

The first stop in our hop is with the incredibly talented Donna Duquette. From there she will direct you to the next stop on the hop. Here is the complete list in case you get lost somewhere along the way:
START HERE: http://starvingartistamps.blogspot.com/
Donna Duquette
Juliana Swanson
Donna Baker
Kathy Daume'
Lori Tecler
Lydia Fiedler
Andrea Cloutier
Natasha Trupp (you are here)
Irene Silva
Dawn Mercedes
Jenn McMillan
Nina Aaslund
Laura Davis
Kazan Clark
Tracey Berkey
Our new releases are already loaded in our shop, ready for immediate shipping and...
for the next 3 days we are offering a blog hop special. Buy the complete classic decor stamps and sentiments collection (both the classic decor stamp set and the coordinating classic decor sentiment set) and get all the cling cushion you need for the two sets FREE! You can find the new stamps here:
CLASSIC DECOR STAMPS:found here!
CLASSIC DECOR SENTIMENTS: found here!
Thanks for visiting with us today! We hope you find tons of inspiration and have lots of fun visiting with our designers!

Here are my creations. Let me tell you, this set really brought out the interior decorator in me. I've never used paper piecing much, but these pieces just beg to be stamped on your favorite designer papers and arranged!

First up a classic room setting- I used Scenic Route papers, from a Christmas collection here. The lamp cord was created by cutting a piece of cardstock ultra thin and breaking the fibers in it so it became more string like.

Next up, I was dying to use some Basic Grey. These patterns are from the Sugared collection.

This one ended up having a bit of a "Mrs. Claus invites you for tea" vibe. The window was made by stamping the decorative panels onto vellum and colouring them with Copics. I used Stamper's Magic Tape to adhere them to the window.

You know I couldn't participate in a blog hop without at least one clean and simple type card. I embossed the chandelier, coloured it with Spicas, cut it out, and then placed that on a shimmery textured background.

For my final card, I wanted to show how well previous DoodleFactory creatures fit in with the scenery. Here, I've replaced Numnum's cookies with a bit of wine. He's getting an early start on the anniversary festivities! The papers for this one came from Basic Grey's Two Scoops

Be sure to continue on to the next blog hop stop: Irene Silva- DoodleFactory illustrator and cardmaker extraordinaire.

How Sweet It Is!

Here's a simple and sweet card that I meant to share a week or so ago! I was thinking that I really wanted to make a citrus themed card, but I wanted wedges. I thought for a moment a realized that these images work just as nicely if you cut them in half! I coated on two layers of yellow Spica to make them all sparkly and juicy looking, arranged them just so and added this cute sentiment. Next I found various oranges and a nice textured yellow from my paper stash. Finally I added a bit of ribbon and found that this Melon Berry button matched almost perfectly!

Supplies:

Stamps: Tart & Tangy, It's a Celebration

Ink: Summer Sun, Melon Berry

Paper: Hawaii Papaya DSP, Groovy Guava, Tango Tangerine, White, Textured Yellow

Accessories, etc.: Ribbon, button, scalloped rectangles, pop dots, Spica yellow marker

SA sponsored 2S4U

It's time for another sketch from the sketches site, 2 Sketches 4 You. Starving Artistamps is a sponsor this week, so once again, the design team decided it'd be fun to play along. I enjoyed the sketch and decided to feature one of my favorite DoodleFactory images, Fern the deer from the great outdoors set. I coloured it with Copics, cut it out and place it on the circle. I added a matching sentiment and then pieced together the rest! The card ending up being 5.5 square.
Supplies:
Stamps: The Great Outdoors and matching sentiments
Ink: Rich Cocoa
Paper: Pink Pirouette, White, Regal Rose, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa
Accessories, etc.: Copics, pop dots, nestabilities

Glossy Leaf

I was so focused on my sketch over at my clean & simple blog that I thought I'd take a stab at a not-so clean & simple card. I used the same basic sketch but added several steps. First I stamped the leaf, then I coloured in the non-inked parts with Copics. Next I cut it out and embossed it, twice, with ultra glossy embossing powder. I placed that over a background stamped oval. Next up, creating the matching patterned paper. I cut a piece of glossy white paper, stamped several leaves, then brayered a few inks until I got a colour I was happy with. Then I stamped the Weathered background over that and embossed the whole thing so it would set. I added an extra mat to the patterned paper layer. Instead of going with an ultra neutral card base, I stamped Linen on mustard paper, then sponged the edges. Remember when it was the "cool thing" to use tons of background stamps. It's fun to go back to that style every now and then.
Supplies:
Stamps: Men of Life, French Script, Weathered, Linen, Autumn Leaf Prints
Ink: Really Rust, Dark Chocolate, Cognac, More Mustard, Versamark
Paper: Really Rust, More Mustard, Dark Chocolate, Vanilla, Glossy White
Accessories, etc.: Die Cuts, Scalloped punch and scissors, button, twine, brayer, sponge, pop dots, UTEE

Teal, Orange, Dots, and a Bird

Well, this fine Tuesday (and it really was, it's finally decided to be summer here!) I received my PTI anniversary set! So I had to put it to use immediately. I stamped the larger bird and cut it out. Then I saw that it went nicely with this Loves Me paper, and I just so happened to have a perfect sized scrap of it. I placed the bird and sentiment, added an orange mat, then placed it onto a Cool Caribbean card base. So quick and easy, and cheerful!

Supplies:

Stamps: Everyday Classics

Ink: True Black, Cote D'Azure, Orangerie

Paper: White, Pumpkin Pie, Loves Me DSP, Cool Caribbean

Accessories, etc.: pop dots

Van Gogh

A while back, Irene posted a cool card with a really neat way of colouring. Flash forward a few months and you've got Starving Artistamps and Technique Junkies pairing up for a few contests. Be sure to go here to find out how you can enter the contest.

Here's my card. I kept it pretty simple, using the technique just on the two birds. After doing the technique, I realized how easy it was and that I should tackle something larger. I will try to work on something this weekend, so stay tuned :)

Supplies:

Stamps: Pip & Ollie (DoodleFactory Animals), Dot Background, Greeting- all can be found at http://starvingartistamps.com/

Ink: Rich Cocoa, So Saffron

Paper: Barely Banana, Tango Tangerine, Close to Cocoa, White, Summer Sun

Accessories, etc.: Copic markers, scallop punch, ribbon, pop dots