Thinking Inking

Teapot Card and a Special Request

Tonight I have a card to share, but even more importantly, I have a very special request. Have you seen the Christmas in July post on the Cosmo Cricket blog? Cosmo Cricket is giving $1 per comment posted, up to $1000, to a local food bank. I would love to see 1000 signatures on that post; how about yours? If you wait, you may be too late. I think Julie has already left that post up longer than she had intended!

For this card I chose PaperTrey Ink's Tea for Two set, one of my favorites from back in April, and some Cosmo Cricket Early Bird papers (Cherry Pie and Farmers Market). The teapot is paper-pieced using the little miniature version on the cover sheet of the Early Bird Collection; I love using the cover sheets for small things like this. Because I wanted to simple shadows to help with the illusion of dimensionality, I chose a Copic T1 marker to add shadows, softening the edges with a o clear blender marker.

The background behind the teapot is cut and embossed with a Spellbinders Labels 4 die template, and then airbrushed while still in the die with Copic BG13 and T1 markers. I cut the same shape for the sentiment on the inside of the card since I was making a z-fold card. Buttons are PaperTrey Ink Lemon Zest Vintage Buttons, and ribbon is 1-1/2" wide ivory silk from Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Store. Inside sentiments are stamped in PaperTrey's Aqua Mist and Pure Poppy Inks.

If you haven't signed that Cosmo Cricket Christmas in July post yet, would you consider doing so? Thanks so much for visiting!

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P.S.  Don't forget about the Spellbinders Blog Frenzy drawings; the next few reveals are on these blogs:

7/11  Karen Hunsaker

7/12  Kazan Clark

7/13  Linda Duke

Enjoy that Pie!

This Pie in the Window image is my favorite from Karen Lockhart's last release; mmmmm--I can almost smell it! I chose my Copic markers (shown below in two rows) based on the colors in the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird papers (Cherry Pie and Sunrise) that I paired with the image. (In that line-up, you'll see four of the new pale Copic colors--love them!--and two of the new Spica colors, Buttermilk and Mint, a pale green.) Ribbon is PaperTrey ink's Pure Poppy Stitched Grosgrain, stained with just a sponged distress ink in order to tone the pure white stitching down a bit.

I'm including a close-up, but you'd better not look too closely or you'll see some mistakes.  I didn't realize they were there until the 3" image filled my wide screen--yikes!

I hope you had a great weekend. We've been busy with family fun, including sleepovers in my son's playhouse--umm, camp. . .  Must be a man-thing. ;-D  Not needing to be tough, I'm ordering an air mattress. Thank you for visiting!

Let Freedom Ring!

Tonight I'll keep the babble short because I have a lot to do in the kitchen! I wanted to share a simple Independence Day card made with the PaperTrey Ink Let Freedom Ring stamp set, along with some Cosmo Cricket Early Bird papers (Farmer's Market), along with PaperTrey Vintage cream and Prism Nautical Dark Blue cardstock. Die cuts are with Spellbinders Classic Circle and Labels Four dies.  A bit of stitching and sanding, and that's it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sustenance: JustRite for Sympathy

Tonight I have a couple of ideas to share with you, but only one card.  I had shared a ribbon-laced Spellbinders Tulip Borderability the other night, paired with a sweet Just Rite baby shoes stamp. I'm using ribbon lacing again, but with an Eyelets Borderability instead; and I'm using the same 2-1/4" x 3-1/16" oval stamper, but with a new borders and centers set, Thinking of You, available around July 7. 

I kept this card monochromatic and soothing, using Cosmo Cricket's Everafter papers (Something True), paired with PaperTrey Ink's Vintage Cream and Ocean Tides cardstock and satin ribbon. ***I didn't have an oval die that fit my large oval perfectly, but I liked it best with my Small Petite Ovals set (which are a longer oval than the Classic Ovals). I cut the inside oval with scissors because I wanted to trim it closely and stack it with foam tape.

***Edited to add: BIG OOPS--the Small Classic oval die DOES fit perfectly, as pictured on the left. I still don't mind the Petite Oval that I used, but if you have the Classic Oval set (small in particular), they fit “JustRite.”  Can we chalk it up to working at 2am? ;-D

The ribbon is attached with a glue dot since the laced ribbon goes under the focal image. Tiny self-adhesive pearls add just a bit of dressiness without overwhelming the soft image and papers. The JustRite Thinking of You set is a very useful tool for sympathy cards, serious illness, or even encouragement.

Have a great last-day-of-June, and thanks for visiting!

P.S. If you had commented on this post and it isn't showing, I'm sorry about that. I had a post crash when I was trying to fix some weird formatting and accidentally deleted about 15 comments. Must be time for me to get off of the computer today!

Teacher Thank You

This past week my nine-year-old, along with six other local home-schoolers, had his first experience with standardized achievement tests.  I wanted to make a thank you card for the teacher who gave up three mornings to proctor his test.

Isn't this Cosmo Cricket Jack's World(Lessons and Animal Friends) paper fun? I love the chalkboard look combined with the sentiments and an apple from PaperTrey Ink's Teacher's Appleset!  Inks are PTI's New Leaf, Pure Poppy, and Dark Chocolate.  I used New Leaf Vintage Buttons, along with Rustic Cream Button Twine, also from PaperTrey Ink. Ribbon is Pure Poppy Grosgrain, and cardstock is Vintage Cream and Pure Poppy.

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The winner of my copy of Paper Crafts Card Creations 7 is number 103, Monique, whom I have e-mailed.

Today's Spellbinders Pendant Blog Frenzy is at Jennifer Davis's blog. Good luck!

Card Creations Volume 7 Blog Tour: You and Me

The winner of my copy of Card Creations 7 is number 103, Monique. Monique, I have e-mailed you for your address. Thanks!

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 103 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

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I don’t know if you have noticed, but there has been a flurry of activity in blogdom this week and some fantastic goodies being given away in celebration of --[are you ready?]-- Card Creations Volume 7,  which is now available!  I recently looked through a copy and saw some ideas that I'm just itching to try, along with a lot of familiar names of blogging friends—some for the first time! 

I love the Card Creations series because it is always chock-full of trendy, simple ideas.  Paper Crafts was gracious enough to provide an extra copy for me to give away on this blog post. Not only that, but they are also giving away ten fabulous prize packages to people visiting and commenting on all fifteen of the blogs in the blog tour! (More about that below.)

This is an anniversary card that I had in this issue. I enjoyed making this card because it combines some of my favorite things—a whimsical Kim Hughes image, my beloved Copic markers and Cosmo Cricket papers, and my favorite Spellbinders Label die. I chose my marker colors from the paper colors, and I gave the male bird the bolder color for variety.

So, would you like a chance to win a Card Creations 7? Leave a comment on this post saying what you stamped or crafted last. The random number drawing for my blog’s copy of Card Creations 7 will close at 10pmCST on Sunday night, June 28—one comment per person, please.

Now, how about a chance to win one of the TEN prize packages that Paper Crafts is giving away (five on the Moxie Fab World Blog and five on the Paper Crafts Connection Blog)!  In Addition to leaving a comment here, you will need to visit and comment on all fourteen of the blogs linked below:

Charlene Austin

Ashley Newell

Beatriz Jennings

Kim Hughes

Carla Peicheff

Dawn McVey

Betsy Veldman

Kim Kesti

Alli Miles

Maren Benedict

Melissa Phillips

Sherry Wright

Teri Anderson

Layle Koncar

After visiting all fifteen blogs in the blog tour, you will need to go back to Moxie Fab World and/or Paper Crafts Connection to tell your favorite project. Be sure to check out specific instructions on Moxie Fab World or Paper Crafts Connection. Best of luck in winning a prize!

Happy Birthday, Emily!

It's Emily Block's birthday--Stamping Bella herself! Shannan Teubner e-mailed me an image of Emily that Christy Croll, the Tiddly's and Bittyblooms artist, had drawn. This image captured Emily so well that I decided to try it, even though I have never colored shiny, naturally curly black hair before. (So when you see the gray marker in there, trust me, it's highlights--not gray hair! ;-D)

I colored Emily with the Copic markers shown on the left--yes, that's a bunch of markers!  The colorless blender in the lower left is a custom blend of half colorless blender and half BG000 ink.

Emily's a fun-loving girl, so I chose to go with a retro party look for papers, Cosmo Cricket's Wednesday and Saturday papers from the Girl Friday Collection. The mat cardstock layers are SU's Rose Red, and the birthday wishes tag, cut with a Spellbinders Tags Trio die, is from PaperTrey Ink's Mixed Messages set. 

Happy Birthday, Emily! 

Thanks: CPS 121

This week's CPS 121 Sponsor is My Sentiments Exactly, and my chosen set packs some serious Word Flower Power! I turned the sketch on its side since my flower needed a stem.

I stamped two of the bloom images on PTI's Vintage Cream cardstock using Adirondack Red Pepper and PTI Aqua Mist inks and cut these out. Next I stamped a word center using Versamagic  Turquoise Gem and Aquatic Splash inks and zig-zag stitched around that center. I lightly sponged Antique Linen Distress ink on all exposed edges to shabby them up just a bit. The thanks sentiment at the base of the flower is die cut and embossed with a Spellbinders Labels Trio die.

Papers are Apron Strings and Cherry Pie from Cosmo Cricket's Early Birdcollection. The green felt ric-rac is from Reasonable Ribbon, and the buttons from Buttons Galore. Sting for the buttons is PTI's Rustic Twine.

If you play along with this week's sketch, be sure to leave a link on the CPS blog. Thanks for visiting!

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If you are looking for the next Spellbinders Blog Frenzy stop, you'll want to go see Mish Wooderson. Remember that you have until June 24, 11:59 pm EST to enter (as explained in the post below) for the Eyelet Pendant set that you saw here yesterday.  Good luck!

  

Happy Bird-Day, Chickie: CPS 120

This week's CPS 120 Sponsor was 2RedBananas, and they make cute chick stamps, for sure!

 

I stamped the Birthday Chick in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored him with the Copic markers shown below. The two Spica Glitter pens are the new Buttermilk and Pitch Black. (Mine have clear caps because they are prototypes. If you order a new set, they will have the easy-to-spot color caps that you are accustomed to seeing.)

 

 

 

Paper is some Cosmo Cricket Early Bird, (Sunrise), and PaperTrey Lemon Tart cardstock. The orange-y cardstock is Prism Papaya Puree Dark. I used a Spellbinders Fancy Scalloped Pierceability die to cut the scalloped Lemon Tart layer and then pierced a row of holes at the top.  

 

Wouldn't you like to play along with this week's CPS 120 sketch? It's an easy one--I promise!

 

Eat Something Cute!

Today I'd like to wish Taylor (Taylored Expressions) a very happy birthday! Jami shared Taylor's TECC72 cupcake sketch a wee bit early so that Taylor would have some birthday cards posted to greet her today.

I used an image from the Sweet Celebration set and colored it with the Copic markers shown below. I chose my markers to coordinate with the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird papers (Cherry Pie, Farmers Market, and Ribbon Sandwich). For Spica Glitter pens, I used Red, Buttermilk, and Peach, the last two of which are new colors. You can see then in the flame of the candles on the detail picture below the markers.

 

Do you notice something missing?  I had no room for a bow. ;-o (But life as we know it will probably go on. . .)

If you know Taylor, be sure to stop by her blog and wish her a happy birthday! Thank you for visiting.