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

A sketch card.

Starving Artistamps is sponsoring 2 Sketches 4 You this week, so the design team had fun making cards for the challenge!

Here's my challenge card. I had actually had part of it completed for quite some time. It was just sitting, waiting for the right card.

I coloured the octopus at least 2 weeks ago. I had added texture to it with liquid pearls, then set it to dry a safe distance from my desk. There it sat, possibly forgotten about for a bit... But then I saw this sketch and knew it would work quite nicely! I added all sorts of embossed and other circle backgrounds here. I wanted a fun and funky, bubbly theme!

Supplies: Stamps: Urban Sentiment Set #2, DoodleFactory Creatures Paper: Taken with Teal, Green Galore, Barely Banana, White, Cool Caribbean Ink: Tuxedo Black Accessories, etc.: Copics, Texture Plates and Folders

H2O Challenge

It's been a while since I participated in one of the challenges, and when I saw that the theme this month was water and watercolouring, I couldn't resist!

Here are the guidelines:

A dip in the Lake....the waves on the Ocean, that little creek down the ravine, the warm rain gently falling, a cold glass of water on a hot day...nothing says Spring and Summer like water. This month we're all about H2O!

Challenge Focus: Create a project that has something to do with water, it can be in your stamps, paper, or embellishments.

Required Element: Watercolouring! If we're doing a water themed project there needs to be some element of watercolouring on your creation.

Restricted Element: If it's H2O that means the two in the equation restricts you to only two embellishments.

And here's my card:

I really love how the watercoloured roses turn out, so I did that as my watercolouring component. I actually colourwashed the whole thing with watercolour paint, let it dry, then I came back to it. I soaked it with water and added in bits of colour with reinkers. I did the same thing with the leaves. When it was almost dry, I added even more colour to make it really vibrant. Next, I didn't want all that vibrancy to fade, so I coated it with glossy Mod Podge. Once that was dry, I added bits of "dew" with crystal effects. The card ended up being quite large- 7x4.25.

Supplies: Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, It's Your Birthday, Friends 'til the End Ink/Reinkers: Versamark, Black Onyx, Ridinghood Red, Summer Sun, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Certainly Celery Paper: Ridinghood Red, Watercolour Paper, Confetti White, Ginger Blossom DSP, Pink Pirouette Accessories, etc.: Texture Plate, Satin Ribbon, Nestabilities, White EP, Crystal Effects

And here's a close-up of the "dew".

Be sure to check out all the challenge cards here.

Had to Try

Once I saw this technique, I knew I had to give a try. I made a few samples before deciding on actually making a card.

First I tried the technique with watercolour paper and paints, it was a bit too washed out. Next I tried it, as suggested, the shimmery paper and reinkers. I liked the result, but I don't have much shimmery paper, and what I do have, I keep for very special occasions. I could see myself really liking this technique, so I wanted to find a cheaper option.

What about regular white cardstock? Well guess what, it works just fine! Regular cardstock tends to curl a bit when wet, so I stamped, embossed, sprayed, and then used two smaller acrylic blocks to hold it down while I went in with reinkers. The plain cardstock soaks up the water pretty fast, but the effect is just as striking. It may take longer to dry, I didn't feel like waiting. Since the water doesn't stay pooled on top for very long, I decided to speed things up with the heat gun. I let each image air dry for maybe five minutes, then came back to it with the heat gun.

Supplies:
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Friends 'til the End, Father Knows Best
Ink: Versamark, Kiwi Kiss
Reinkers: Summer Sun, Ridinghood Red,Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss
Paper: Barely Banana, Ridinghood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Haiku
Accessories, etc.: white satin ribbon, white EP, pop dots

WS Trio

I thought it seemed like a good day to share these three Whipper Snapper cards. They all feature the sets released in April.

For my first card, I thought that the handwritten sentiments would make a cute stem. I stamped that first, then added the flower and leaves. I coloured it in with Copics, and put it together in one of my favorite layouts.
This chicken image is definitely one of my favorites. It's so much fun to colour and pair with other food items. I wanted a country kitchen vibe for this one, so I paired the images with this cute checkered paper and some saddle stitched grosgrain.
For this card, I wanted a simple "wow". This card is slightly smaller than usual, the note card 3.5x5. I cut out a scalloped square, then adhered a square of tape to it and glittered it up. Then I attached a Copic coloured cake in the same colours and added the sentiment in white craft ink. Easy, quick, and sparkly :D

Supplies:

Stamps: Chicken's in the Kitchen, What's Cookin', Simply Bloom

Ink: Bamboo Leaves, Rich Cocoa, Tuxedo Black

Paper: Kraft, Berry Sorbet, Ski Slope DP, White, Vanilla, Chocolate, SEI DP, Pixie Pink, Lovely Lilac

Accessories, etc.: Glitter, Copic markers, ribbon, various nestabilities, pop dots

Spring Fling

When I saw that Nichole had posted a challenge, how could I resist? Especially with all those amazing photographs the PTI design team had chosen as inspiration. I loved the photo of the tulip festival that Lisa posted. I took those colours and went about making my own floral scene.

I started by spritzing some watercolour paper. I patted it with a towel so it was only slightly moistened. Then I inked up the stamps with markers. I finished off the scene with a bit of paint splattering and plenty of distressing.
Supplies:
Stamps: Life, Linen
Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Dark Chocolate
Paper: Regal Rose, Always Artichoke, Watercolour Paper, Rose Red
Accessories, etc.: ribbon, paper piercer, distressing tool

Two in One

That's right, post number two for today. The fabulous Becky Oehlers is holding a challenge in honour of her birthday and blogaversary to use clear cardstock. I quite like the look of clear cards, so I figured I'd make one.

Here's the outside. I texturized the blue paper, attached it to the yellow cardstock then cut out the circle with a nestabilities die. I added the scalloped circle and brads because the front was just too plain without it.

The inside is full of fishes, wishing "birthday fishes", of course. I was totally inspired by this one by Nichole Heady. I tend to avoid gel cards though, because they don't keep well. They're great if you use them immediately, but if you don't they tend to get very distorted.

Supplies:
Stamps: Pond Life
Ink: Orangerie, Summer Sunrise, Lemon Tart
Paper: Spring Rain, Lemon Tart, White, Summer Sunrise
Accessories, etc.: Acetate, brads, texture plate, nestabilities

Colour Challenge!

I was quite happy to see that Dawn had posted a new colour challenge today. And it just so happens to be one of my favorite combinations already- Aqua, Brown, and White. Because I just received Scattered Showers, I've been using it a lot and having quite a lot of fun with it. Since it's Dawn's challenge, and that set is her design, I figured, why not showcase both?


I started by stamping my own patterned paper with the smallest umbrella in the set and the rain drops. I found the handle to be a bit too long for that umbrella in a background setting, but it was easily resolved. I placed a post-it note over each umbrella and then I could make the handle as short as I wanted. I embossed the greeting in white powder so it would really pop out. I also stamped another umbrella and cut it out. I really like placing the umbrellas on a diagonal. Perhaps because that's usually how I see them when they're being used? Then I added a scalloped edge, some satin ribbon, and my current obsession (sorry folks!) the button bow!

Something amusing I just noticed- it's been raining all day, and after I finished my card I saw that the sky is clearing and there's quite a bit of sunshine!

Supplies:
Stamps: Scattered Showers, Birthday Basics
Ink: Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate, Fresh Snow
Paper: Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist, White
Accessories, etc.: scallop punch, satin ribbon, aqua mist button, twine, pop dots, white EP

Wildflower Birthday

I was in the mood for a bit of watercolouring and I was itching to use my new sets from Whipper Snapper Designs. I stamped the flower, leaf, and butterfly with Stazon onto watercolour paper. Then I went to work with watercolour paints and a blender pen. I really wanted a soft glow around the images, so I dribble a few droplets of water on my plastic palette and mixed in a touch of yellow paint. I applied that with an aquapainter since I wanted it to disperse. Next I stamped Aida Cloth onto some caramel cardstock, I added piercing and some sponging to match with the rest of the edge distressing I had done. I completed it with a twine tied button and sentiment flag.

Supplies:

Stamps: Blossoms and Butterflies, Aida Cloth, Blooming Expressions

Ink: Timber Brown, Creamy Caramel

Paper: Creamy Caramel, Watercolour, New Leaf, Vintage Cream

Accessories, etc.: Twine, New Leaf button, paper piercer and guide, sponge, watercolour paints

Colour x 50

I saw that it was #50 of Kristina's colour challenge, and since I seem to have lots of time this weekend (how strange!) I thought I'd play along. I have always been a fan of bright colours, especially the primaries. I liked the look of my stamped patterned paper so much the other day that I decided to try it with these colours. It's a simple design, I didn't want to take away from all that pretty stamping. To tie in all the colours, I stamped the happy once in each primary and left birthday in one of the neutrals. Of course, when I read Happy Happy Happy Birthday, I get the cheesy song from Emperor's New Groove in my head, the one in the restaurant (happy happy birthday, from all of us to you, we wish it was our birthday, so we could party too...). I love that movie!

Supplies:

Stamps: Detours (October Afternoon), Birthday Basics (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Bahama Blue, Cantaloupe, Lady Bug, Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)

Paper: Dark Chocolate, Summer Sun, White

Accessories, etc.: Scalloped edge punch, scalloped rectangle nestabilities, chocolate 3/8'' grosgrain

April Blog Hop!

This month's challenge was to use one of Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates. I really love the "From the Desk of" template. It's such a fun one and it's quite sturdy! I've made a few already, but I wanted to try something a little bit different for the blog hop. I decided it'd be fun to make two of the organizers and stick them together. I printed out the template twice on PTI's white cardstock. Then I printed out the decorative mats onto Aqua Mist and used the flowers from Friends 'til the End and stamped out some pretty paper. I put each template together, then stuck them to each other. I thought a basic style handle would be fun, so I adhered 2 strips of 11x1 inch white cardstock together, then attached those to the organizers. I reinforced those with 2 brads on each side. I thought this would be really cute if you left out the divider, kind of like the old style milk bottle cartons.

I decided to put my new organizer to use right away. I found that each division fits about 22 Copics (sketch or original), making the entire ensemble able to fit 88 markers. And the handle is sturdy enough and well attached that you can lug the whole thing around. I tested it out!

Supplies:

Stamps: Friends 'til the End

Ink: Ocean Tides, Fresh Snow, Dark Chocolate

Paper: PTI White, Aqua Mist

Accessories, etc.: Scor-Tape, From the Desk of Timeless Template, Chocolate Brads, 1/16th hole punch

Earth Day

Nothing says earthy like kraft paper, twill, buttons, and twine, at least when we're talking cards anyway, those are the types of supplies I think of.


I really like these images from gel-a-tins Peace on Earth set and thought it would be appropriate to use them today. I'm still on a button bow kick, expect to see more of those in the weeks to come. The card is relatively simple. I stamped the earth image with green ink onto blue paper, cut that out, and placed it on a naturals white tag. Then I added the ribbon covered scalloped paper and the sentiment, and that was it!

Supplies:
Stamps: Peace on Earth
Paper: Kraft, Naturals White, Soft Sky
Ink: Landscape, Rich Cocoa
Accessories, etc.: twill, twine, button, scallop punch

Happiness Always

Although I am no longer a Stampin' Up! demo, I still enjoy the product. I am still part of a stamp club. As a challenge, my demo asked that we make something from our January or February club purchases to bring along to our next get together. So I've been making quite a few items focusing on those purchases. This is actually the third one I've made (I just haven't uploaded and edited the other two yet). Basically, I got these buttons and I really wanted to try the button bow. I followed Nichole Heady's instructions and it turned out great. I also took the layout that she used in her tutorial and applied some of my recent acquisitions to it (ribbon, celery cardstock, buttons, Botanical Blooms- technically the last two were from March's club).
After making the button bow, I stamped Polka Dot Background on So Saffron in Vintage Cream. Then I added some piercing. Next,I figured out how much room I had for the image panel. I stamped a few flowers, coloured them in with Copics, and added a SAB sentiment from a past year. I added celery borders to the image panel and background panel and placed that all on a Vintage Cream card base.

Supplies:
Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Happy Harmony, Polka Dot Background
Ink: Rich Cocoa, Vintage Cream
Paper: So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Vintage Cream
Accessories, etc.: So Saffron grosgrain, thread, button from Buttons Latte, pop dots, paper piercer and guide, Copics

Pink and Black

I saw this alphabet set at Studio Calico the other week and really liked it. It is suitable for scrapbooking, but I thought it would look nice on cards. I received it on Tuesday and couldn't just let it sit there. So I got to work creating this 4.25 square card. I embossed the letters on black paper using pink embossing powder. I cut those out, then added the word chickadee using a Studio G rubber stamp alphabet. I added the scalloped black paper, the polka dot ribbon, and the black mat, but it felt a tad unbalanced. So I stamped this sweet little bird, embossed it, cut it out and popped it up.

Supplies:

Stamps: Noah (Studio Calico), Studio G alphabet, Sheltering Tree (gel-a-tins)

Ink: Versamark, True Black

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Black

Accessories, etc.: Pink of Me gelly powder, pop dots, scallop punch, polka dot organdy

New Cling Mounts!

It's time for some new designs by Anna Wight. Be sure to check them out at Whipper Snapper Designs. I had a lot of fun with this month's sets. There are three new sets this month.

First up is Chicken's in the Kitchen. This set has a chicken and lots of props. I gave her a chef's hat and a wooden spoon and paired the whole thing with the "Kiss the Cook!" sentiment. This colour combo- caramel, buttercup, and aqua reminded me of a kitchen.

The second set is called What's Cookin'. It have several cute sayings and some food images. These images also go quite nicely with the chicken set. I kept this design pretty simple, having just the one small image, a matching saying, and red and brown.The third set is called Simply Bloom. It contains floral images, a few leaves, a butterfly, and my favorite: handwritten sentiments. If you're like me, you may find yourself a tad envious of others' handwriting and how well it works on a card. Don't get me wrong, I like my handwriting and printing, but they just doesn't seem to "go" on cards. As soon as I saw this set, I wanted to make this card. I stamped several flowers and coloured them in with Copics. I wanted a card that would be like a ray of sunshine for the recipient. Bright colours, especially blue, yellow, and orange, make me happy.

Supplies:

Stamps: Chicken's in the Kitchen, What's Cookin', Simply Bloom

Ink: Rich Cocoa, Tuxedo Black

Paper: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Bitty Dots DP, Real Red, White, Summer Sun, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango

Accessories, etc.: Nestabilities (oval, long rectangle), saffron grosgrain, Copics, pop dots, red grosgrain

Oops!

I try to post at least once a week, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. This last weekend I was in Brandon, teaching a few classes at a scrapbooking convention. It was a lot of fun! It was also great to getaway for the weekend, even if it was just 2 hours away.

With it being the upcoming Easter weekend, I have kind of an odd work schedule. It's my Saturday rotation week, which means I am on my 3 day weekend right now Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It's actually kind of nice. I love having weekends when the majority of people are having weekdays. That combination also means... time for shopping, regular mail deliveries, and time for stamping. I managed to fit all 3 in today. The shopping wasn't too interesting, new headphones (the ones that come with iPods are WAY too big for my ears), and an extra SD card. I also received my nestabilities from http://paperworksco.com/. I ordered Blossoms, Labels 3 and 4. I decided to put together a little something featuring the Blossoms shape.

This was one of those cards that just kind of came together, absolutely no planning. I wanted to jazz up the flower shape, so I stamped it, then added a big vintage button which I had threaded. I created the leaves by cutting freehand and scoring down the middle. I liked the dotty theme and decided to bring out the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder (I really need to use that more often!). I decided at the last minute to add in a scalloped border to make the panel a bit more proportionate to the card front. The last step was a small sentiment tag which I slid under the flower.

Supplies:

Stamps: Birthday Basics, Polka Dot Basics

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sunrise, New Leaf, Craft, Vintage Cream

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, New Leaf

Accessories, etc.: Blossoms, Scalloped Rectangles nestabilities, vintage button, thread, Swiss Dot folder