Thinking Inking

From Me to You

I truly appreciate all of you who  have asked about my husband today;  he's pretty sore and probably will be for a few more days. One of his friends came over today and put the roof ridge cap on, so the little building that he was roofing when he got hurt is now safe for winter. That makes him feel a bit better!

I had time for only a quick card tonight; I used the SU level one hostess set, Oh So Lovely, along with Tres Chic and Canvas. I used watercolor crayons and an aquapainter to color this poppy, opting for a soft pink poppy rather than a red one this time. I ran into a problem when I started to mat it however: Pretty in Pink was overwhelming the color of the bloom. I used my favorite trick for getting Blush Blossom to pass for a soft pink: inking the background stamps with Pretty in Pink ink.  I faux-stitched the "from me to you" because I wanted it to be black stitching and didn't have time to switch out the thread on my sewing machine. I used a very narrow black grosgrain, along with two black mini brads to give the inside edge a finished look. I used watercolor paper for the poppy bloom and Neenah Natural White for the card base.

Thanks for your patience today!

Stitched. . .

I'll post as soon as I get a chance to work sometime tomorrow (Tuesday); we had a little accident here this afternoon, which ended up in a trip to the ER for many (I lost count) stitches on my husband's fingers. Thankfully no tendons or nerves were severed. I think I'd better stick close to him instead of staying up stamping half the night! ;-)

Life's a Journey

Are you tired of Garden Silhouettes yet? I'm not! Today I paired it with Tres Chic and Define Your Life, all by Stampin' Up. Card stock colors are Shimmery White, Blue Bayou, and Soft Sky. Ink colors are Soft Sky and Blue Bayou.

First I inked my whole flower stamp in Blue Bayou, then I used my Old Olive marker to color the stems and leaves. (Since Soft Sky is such a pale color, it didn't seem to hurt the Old Olive marker.) I then stamped the focal image on Shimmery White card stock and matted it in Blue Bayou and Soft Sky, all distressed lightly with Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress ink. I zig-zag stitched the focal image to the mat layers after using the ticket corner punch to punch the focal image and Blue Bayou layers, and after tearing the bottoms of all three layers.

Background is stamped with Tres Chic in Blue Bayou. I used  a Spellbinders S4 081 tags die to cut and emboss my tag after stamping the definition for "journey" from Define Your Life. Using a pewter brad, I attached the Blue Bayou stitched grosgrain to the tag and taped it on the back of the Blue Bayou layer. Next I knotted a short length of Soft Sky stitched grosgrain around the Blue Bayou ribbon and added flower centers with White Opal Liquid Pearls by Ranger.  I added pewter brads to the top of the focal image and to the bottom under the tag  to help balance out the right side. Is it as painful for you as it is for me to part with six brads in one of your favorite colors in one fell swoop? Okay, they are just brads. . . Breathe deeply and use them!

Thanks for visiting.

Hangin' at the Beach

Possible snow flurries tomorrow. Does that sound like beach  weather to you? I've been wanting to play with this little stamp, so I'm pretending that it isn't cold and dreary outside!

I was blessed to get to live for ten years near the sugar white sands of Pensacola, Florida, and I must admit that I put in my share of beach time during those years. Almost every Friday night during my undergrad years, the administration made an announcement that students should avoid being on the beach between the hours of 10am and 3pm to avoid sunburn. Hello!!  We were 18-23 year olds. Sunburn and skin cancer were not what most of us were thinking about.  Taking an alarm clock to the beach so that we could wake up and flip every hour or so between 10 and 3--that was what we were thinking about!

It was in fond memory of my beach days that I made this card, even though I couldn't very well make the sand white.  I started by stamping the girl and palm tree  image and the sun image in Black Brilliance ink on PaperTrey Stamper's Select White card stock. Next I colored the images with my Copic markers: YG03 and YG63 for the palm fronds, Y19 for the sun, YR24 and E09 for the girl's hair, E21 for her skin (but E00 would be almost the same), and T-5 for the tree trunk.

I used a Copic .03  Multiliner pen to draw in a horizon line and a shore line. I then cut masks from  Eclipse tape for the girl's head and hair and the sun. I also cut masks for the sky, water, and beach. Using my Copic Airbrush System, I airbrushed the sky in B23, the water in BG49, and the sand in E21. I used a piece of torn card stock to give myself a little more texture in the sand areas, and I added a bit of glitter to look like the foam on the beach. For the girl's swimsuit, I stamped her on a scrap of the background paper, cut out the swimsuit, and pieced it in place.  I dyed a length of twill by coloring it with my Copic YG03, and used an SU large pewter eyelet to attach the twill. Background paper is Memory Box Beach Collection. I placed the focal image at an angle because it seemed reminiscent of a casually tossed down photograph that way. You can't see it very well in the photograph, but I used a pale gray (C1) marker and added a shadow around the left side and bottom of my focal image to give it a bit more dimensionality. Finished card size is 3-1/4" x 6-1/2".

"Greetings from Paradise" is another stamp in the Wordsworth V001 Vacation stick people set---love the casual flow of the word paradise! I had fun with this card--hope that you enjoy it too. :-}

Tres Chic goes Gardening

I played with Tres Chic and Garden Silhouettes for a while tonight--what fun! Since I had recently gotten Define Your Life, I had to stick a definition on front too.  (No, I haven't mounted the whole set yet. . .) I was trying for a monochromatic shades-of-white card, but it ended up being a vanilla and caramel card--still fairly monochromatic. All details are listed below. Have a wonderful day!

Stamps: Tres Chic, Linen, Garden Silhouettes, and Define Your Life
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Kraft
Ink: SU Creamy Caramel, Versamagic Hint of Pesto and Pumpkin Spice
Accessories: Vanilla Taffeta, White gel pen, Mocha Gold pearls, dimensionals
Tools: Spellbinders Nestability plain and petite scalloped circle dies, ticket corner punch, Coluzzle Circle template (for the Tres Chic circle)

"And then Some", continued. . .

Card post will follow in a while.

Admittedly, I don't usually play tag games. (For one thing, I'm not that interesting of a person. . .) But this one that Tami Mayberry tagged me for  is short. So, Tami, here you go!

Here are the rules:
1-Link to your tagger (see above), and also post these rules on your blog.

2-Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3-Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4- Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, seven facts:

1. I was a nursing major for a year and a half  before I decided that I didn't really like taking orders and that I hated white shoes. (Wish I'd decided that before I worked my way through Anatomy and Organic Chemistry!)

2. After I figured out how to tell my Dad that I was changing my major, (cha-ching), I decided to become a commercial art/graphic design major. After all, my biology notebook was pretty, and nobody tells art majors what to do, right? Yeah, right. . .

3. Fast-forwarding: I taught for ten years before I met my husband.

4. We met on blind date. (Actually, we were introduced by friends whose judgment we trusted. I guess that's not totally blind.)

5. Although I'm annoyingly perfectionistic in some areas, I have a really messy stamping room.

6. I often start something new before finishing what I was working on. Hey, inspiration strikes! (And that explains #5, the messy room.)

7. I've had the opportunity to visit Canada, France, England (twice), Israel, and South Korea, in that order. I still need to see the American West though.

There. How was that for "random" and "weird" facts? :-D

I  am tagging the following seven victims five volunteers, who volunteered in yesterday's post comments: Aimee, Tricia (who didn't exactly say that she wanted to be tagged, but she'll probably humor me!), Heidi, Sharon (who also didn't really volunteer, but you just HAVE To visit her blog anyway;-D), and  Kellie. Thanks, ladies, for volunteering!
 

Hanna, and then some. . .

Yesterday I got my first set of Kristi Ferro's Hanna stamps in the mail, so of course I had to test drive them! After deciding to make Hanna blond, I picked some Basic Grey Lily Kate background paper, which made my color choices for me.  (Of course, before I was finished, I had already decided against using background paper, but the color choices were already set.)

I stamped Hanna in Black Brilliance ink on PaperTrey Stamper's Select White card stock, then colored her with Copic markers in the following colors: E00, E21, B21, G40, BV000, BV02, YG00, C1, Y21, and YR24.  To keep her in the border area that I wanted on an A-2 card, I decided to let the back bag break the rectangle. I cut that rectangle and its black mat by hand,  then cut the scalloped rectangle with my Spellbinders Nestability Scalloped Rectangle from Certainly Celery. Main mat layer is Almost Amethyst, stamped in Almost Amethyst as well. I used a single Swarovski crystal on Hanna's green purse. I really wanted to make it a necklace pendant, but it was a bit large for that.

Although I wanted to use a ribbon to finish it off, I didn't have a good place for a knot to lie flat.  I took a 3/4" circle punch and punched a notch out for the knot to fit into, then added black brads in the corners of the celery mat where I had already punched notches with a ticket corner punch. Ribbon is Sweet Shoppe from SU, from last year's catalog.

Now for the "and then some." Yesterday I was tagged by Tami. I've written some answers, but I don't want to tag people who hate to be tagged. If you want to be tagged, let me know with a post comment. I'll tag the first seven stamping bloggers who tell me that you're willing. Ü

Thanks!

Porcelain Ornaments, Part 2

How about some more Christmas ornaments?  I had told you that I'd share some porcelain stamping tips soon, and I wanted to do that tonight. Several people have asked what kind of ink to use on them.  I used to use Staz-On Black, but since I colored these with my Copic markers (also solvent-based), Staz-On was not an option.  Instead I used Black Brilliance ink and dried it for a bit with my heat gun. I still try to stay pretty much in the lines, trying not to scrub at the black ink with my marker.

Nicholas and Daddy

For the first ornament, I used the Lockhart limited edition snowglobe from last year, Nicholas and Daddy. This one was a bit tricky because I didn't want the actual snowglobe to show.  I stamped the image, then immediately took some damp q-tip swabs and wiped off the base of the snowglobe as well as the globe part. After I had it as clean as I could get it, I then heat set the remainder of the image and colored it with the following Copic markers: 0, R14, R27, G28, YG93, YG99, B00, and BV000. I drew in a bit more snow with a .03 Black Copic Multiliner--the perfect pen for something like this! To protect my ornaments, I spray one or more very light coats of Krylon Workable Fixative--available at most places that sell art supplies.  Light is the key, because if it puddles, you will start seeing your image dissolve!  In fact, I usually spray from at least a foot away, and I keep my plugged in heat gun handy just in case I see some shine on there indicating a bit too heavy of a coat. If you get just a tiny bit too much, you can zap it with the heat gun and prevent a problem.

Meet the Flurries

For the second ornament, I stamped the Nicholas Flurry first, then used a mask cut from Eclipse paper to mask him off while I stamped Mama and Papa Flurry.  (I wish I had gotten the Papa a bit higher and the Mama a bit lower, but I can live with it.) After heat setting my black Brilliance ink, I colored the images with the following Copic markers:T5, C1, YG93, YG99, R14, R27, BV000 (for snow shadows), and 0.  Next I placed masks over all three snowpeople, masked off the snow, and used my Copic airbrush system to airbrush the sky with B00.

Skater's Pond

Now to change directions, I thought that I'd try some of my Cornish Heritage Farms Thomas Kinkade stamps as ornaments. Again, I stamped these in Black Brilliance ink. The first one, Skater's Pond, was colored only in selected spots.

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Village Christmas

On the second one, Village Christmas, I used a bit of Copic marker (on the car, clothing, lamppost, and house lights), but I used mostly chalks. (These ornaments actually look clearer in real life than in a photo.) The best thing?  These didn't take long to make--I'm thinking Christmas gifts. . .

In case you missed the link that Robin provided us with for porcelain blanks the other day, here it is. (These porcelain blanks are manufactured by Cridge, but I'm pretty sure that Cridge is no longer selling them.) I hope that helps with your Christmas list!

True Friend Birthday Wishes

I played with a CPS Sketch again tonight--loved this one!  Background paper is SU's Outlaw, and stamp sets are True Friend and Circle of Friendship. Ink colors are Sage Shadow and Chocolate Chip, distressed in Antique Linen distress ink. (You can use River Rock; it's a great distressing ink as well.) I used one of my Spellbinders petite scalloped circle dies to cut the Chocolate Chip mat for the focal image, and I used a 1" circle punch for the Circle of Friendship sentiment. Sage center and sentiment are both popped up with a dimensional. I used a combination of faux stitching and real stitching. (Okay, I probably would have machine stitched the whole thing, but I was waking everybody up!)

It's amazing how starting with a sketch in mind cuts down on the time it takes to complete a card. You spend more time making rather than deciding what to make. If you haven't checked out a card sketch site, what are you waiting for?  The two that I am aware of are Card Positioning Systems and Caardvarks. Several bloggers also regularly issue sketches. Try them!

Have a lovely day!

Edited to add: Several of you also mentioned PageMaps as another card sketch site. Thanks!

Stem Silhouettes Revisited

Tonight I pulled out Stem Silhouettes again. I was determined to use Wild Wasabi, which I had tried and bombed with last week. Hmmm.  I'm still in doubt . . . I switched to Basic Gray and Real Red, both of which I love, and that worked better. Background is Well-Worn Words stamped on Basic Gray card stock in Basic Gray ink. Stems are in Basic Gray with tops filled in with a Real Red marker. I used Circle of Friendship to get a sentiment on front, and matted it with a Real Red mat cut with one of my Spellbinders Nestabilities Petite Scalloped circle dies. Ribbon is Gray taffeta--lovely stuff!

Edited to add: A couple of you have asked about the knot. I was looking for a different way to add ribbon rather than my regular way of wrapping it all the way around a layer. I just tied a single knot in the end of a length of ribbon and used a mini glue dot to hold it in place--simple!

Because my sister walked in and rescued the Wild Wasabi version, I reluctantly finished it and am sharing that one as well. Background stamp is Aida cloth,  paired with another stamp from Stem Silhouettes. The "for you" is from All Holidays. I used a red Spica glitter pen to touch up the red dots/blossoms on both cards to add a little extra sheen. Ribbon is Wild Wasabi stitched grosgrain. (Yes, that's why I have to use Wild Wasabi!  I bought the matching ribbon and want to use it before it retires!)

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Thanks for visiting!

Festival of Trees Ornaments

I've been a woman on a mission this weekend since I went back and reread my e-mail requesting ornaments for the PaperCrafts  tree for Festival of Trees. First, they requested a color scheme of turquoise and red. (I guess I didn't read that when I was doing my own thing the other night. Don't tell my son about mom's inability to follow instructions, okay?)  The instructions also specified "paper-crafted"--which should have been a given if I hadn't had stamped porcelain blanks on the brain.  (I'm still planning to post more of the porcelain ornaments because they turned out pretty cute and because several of you had questions about inks, sealing them, etc.) Tonight, however, I'm posting ornaments that actually follow the directions. ;-)

I had posted a one-layer card a couple of days ago made with the Wordsworth Mod Christmas stamp set (V030). That set keep coming back to me as the perfect set for a series of papercrafted ornaments. I used the following Copic marker colors on PaperTrey Stamper's Select White:  R29, B00, Y19, and YG03.

If you have used Copic markers, you might have noticed that they appear darker or lighter depending upon the paper or surface that you use. On SU's Whisper White, they glide on, but they look a bit lighter in value than on a different white card stock, such as the Stamper's Select White. Both are nice card stocks; your choice just depends upon the look that you are going for. I also like the Neenah Classic White, but I chose the PaperTrey because it is a heavier weight card stock, and because I didn't want my ornaments to feel too light.

I finished the ornaments off  by using my Spellbinders Nestability Regular and Scalloped dies.  First I cut and embossed the focal image, then I double matted it in both a red card stock and a silver metal craft foil. (This came on a roll, and it is fairly thin. To make sure it doesn't bend, I backed it with an extra cut of the same size from card stock.) I sprayed a very light coat of Krylon Workable Fixative on the focal images to help protect them from dust and fingerprints. I used some SU silver cord sandwiched between glued layers to hang the ornaments. The finished size of this trio is about 2" x 2-1/2".

Now how about a PaperTrey ornament? I used two PaperTrey sets, Take a Bough and Holiday Wishes. For ink I chose Versamagic chalk inks in Gingerbread, Turquoise Gem, Niagara Mist, and Red Magic. I matted with Rubber Soul's Tomato and Aqua card stocks. Again I used my Spellbinders Nestability dies, but this time in Regular and and Petite Scalloped Circles.  The red stars on the aqua ornament are some A Muse twinkle stars.  Finished size of this ornament is 3-3/4" in diameter.

A general note on these photos: I'm having a hard time getting the reds just right. In real life they look less fluorescent and deeper. In my digital photos, they seem to flatten out.

Newsflash: Don't forget about the Spellbinder's Design Team search that is going on right now!  If you enjoy using fabulous dies, you have about a week left to submit a variety of projects. The requirements are explained here. Good luck!

Finally, I wanted to thank you for the encouraging words yesterday. I truly appreciate your support: you're the best!  Thanks for visiting.

In Paper Heaven. . .

I have to tell you that I'm pretty pumped today!  I received the nicest e-mail a couple of weeks ago from Julie at Cosmo Cricket. Now if you've read my blog for long, you know that I am totally enamored of  (or with, depending upon your grammatical persuasion) Cosmo Cricket products. (Some of you remember the story that I told here after CHA. . .)  With that degree of infatuation, who can be surprised that an e-mail from Julie would totally make my week?  If you'd like to see what the e-mail was about, you can check Julie's blog here. Ü

I'd ordered some Bare Elements blocks a while back and wanted to make a block set for my boy, who would rather see pictures of  himself being loved than pretty much anything. The Little Boy Collection was perfect for the blocks; not only are the papers beautiful, but the word strips tug at your heart as well. (How about this one: "As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen.")  I digress: I wanted to share a couple of pictures of my finished block set with you. ( Eclectic Paperie has these blocks in stock.)

The top view is of the block set stacked randomly. Obviously there are six sides to the blocks, so you can create six different mix-and-match canvases with them. I chose pictures of Benjamin and some of the people he loves, changed them to a warm black and white, cropping most of them to 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" and printing them on a matte photo paper. Two of the sides are completely covered with photographs--either a montage of small ones or one large one--and the other four sides all have Cosmo Cricket Little Boy papers showing. (If you don't have a local source for Cosmo Cricket paper, I found the Little Boy Collection at All That Scraps, Eclectic Paperie, and Jacksonbelle's e-Bay store.)

I attached my papers with Royal Coat Decoupage medium, then lightly sanded the edges to make the set look well-loved. Next I topcoated all surfaces with the same medium in order to protect them from grubby fingers. (After all, it is for a boy.)  This was such a fun project!  My sweet boy will treasure it for years to come. 

News Flash: Woohoo! I was just over at the main site and saw that Cosmo Cricket Wonderland is now available in the 8" x 8" size!  I love smaller-sized papers because their scale is beautifully suited to cardmaking. Thank you,  Cosmo Cricket!