Thinking Inking

Peace

Welcome! This is a no-blog-hops-day. :-} Seriously, there have been a lot of them lately. Today's post is just an I-added-one-more-card-to-my Christmas-stash post.

I had a little Memory Box stamp in my stash that I hadn't used yet, Peace Collage. I inked it mostly in Versamagic red magic ink and dotted some Turquoise Gem ink on the snowflakes and on the word peace.

Papers are from my Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather Mini Deck--both were scraps too small for a card front, but too pretty to waste. Ribbon is off white seam binding dyed with a Copic BG11 reinker. I added some Zva Creative pearls, also scraps from a swirl that I hadn't used all of earlier (PE-03CA-113). I always save the dissected swirl pieces and keep them in case I need a tiny accent here or there. I used a bit a machine stitching, as well as some Distress ink and scruffing of cardstock edges, and I have a card that will actually fit in the envelope without requiring extra postage, though my bow won't be so plump when it arrives. . .

Thanks for visiting!

Zva Creative November DT Blog Hop

We have a NEW Zva Creative Design Team and we welcome you to join us this month for a blog hop that we feel is extra special!

There is now an added twist to our blog hops; as you know, Zva offers so many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  We want to make sure that they shine brightly for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project.  We anticipate that our hops will become even more breathtaking with such stunning products to showcase by concentrating on color.

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog, Paper Hugs. She will have the complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, November 29, and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, November 30; and the five winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 1, on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Kim Hughes‘s blog as well (linked above). We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday-- you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post. You do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

My assigned color was pink and/or rosy pink. Hmmm. . . okay, I tweaked it just a little! I started with the rosy pink rhinestones shown below and used a Copic V06 marker o add just a hint of violet to make my rhinestones coordinate better with the paper that I had chosen (from the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather Mini Deck).

If you look at the two rhinestones on the left end of the strip, you can see that I modified the color slightly. I used a Zva Creative CRW-03-109 as my base rhinestone and added the Copic V06 on top of that.

I used a very limited range of marker colors to color my focal image, stamps from Papertrey Ink's Friendship Jar and Friendship Jar: Holiday Fillers sets, along with a frame from the Friendship Jar Fall Fillers set. Dies that I used were PTI's Jar Toppers and Jar Label dies.

Besides the rhinestone bling, I also used a Quickie Glue Pen and some Prisma Glitter to add sparkle on the stars and smaller parts of the snowflakes. Ribbon is some off-white seam binding dyed with V12 Copic Various Inks refill. I love my bling, and as a bonus, it's lightweight and not so thick to mail!

The blog hop begins here: Kim Hughes.

Your next stop is here: Carole Maurin.

Thank you so much for joining us!

'Tis the Season

Welcome! I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday--we did! Family, innumerable blessings, good food, a warm and cozy home while the wind howls outside. . . 

Tonight I have another Christmas card to share with you. I chose one of my standby favorite sets, Papertrey's Tiny Treats: Christmas set, along with the Mat Stack 1 die. I trimed around the stamped plaid frame by hand and used the die to cut the red mat layer. 

Paper is from last year's October Afternoon line, Very Merry. I "needed" it when I saw that cute gingerbread man! Copic markers that I used were R29, E55 and E57, along with a YR21 and a 0 colorless blender.

My stash is growing! Thank you for stopping by.

JustRite Twelve Weeks of Christmas Blog Hop Twelve

Welcome to the final week of JustRite Stampers’  Wednesday feature, Twelve Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops!  JustRite has been showcasing their entire Christmas Collection of stamps during the hops. and ALL of the JustRite Original stamps are currently on sale at 25% off now through November 29, with free shipping within the U.S. on consumer orders over $50!  You can view all of those Holiday Sale stamp sets HERE. 

If you would like to go back through all of the hops and see all of the gorgeous Christmas inspiration from the past eleven weeks, you can do so by clicking on the Twelve Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops category on the JustRite Inspiration blog.  All of the designers’ projects are hyperlinked directly to their blog posts that have full details of how they created the project, so you won’t have to search for them.

Don’t forget that JustRite also has some Christmas stamps in their newly released CLING line of stamp sets, too -- you can find all of their cling stamp sets HERE.  This week, the designers joining the JustRite design team are the 2 Sketches 4 You designers!  JustRite is sponsoring this week’s 2S4Y #66 sketch challenge.  You can find the fabulous sketch inspiration AND details about the JustRite prize package, by visiting their blog post HERE.

For today's project I made another ornament for our Christmas tree. I chose a stamp from JustRite's Sparky the Snowman cling set and colored it with the Copic markers shown below.  I also used three Spellbinders dies: Standard Circles Small, Pinking Circle Large, and the Lotus Pendants die templates.

I used some Spellbinders Craft Foil to cut the Lotus Pendant from, backing it with a second layer of thin chipboard to make sure that the foil would not get bent easily. Next I added a pale blue Zva Creative rhinestone to each lotus tip (CRW-01CB-140). I used a Quickie Glue Pen and some Prisma Glitter to add snow to the scene, as well as some silver cording, and voilà--one more ornament for our tree!

I hope that you get a chance to visit the following designers’ blogs to see what fabulous JustRite Christmas inspiration they have for you on the hop today--thanks!

JustRite Inspiration Blog 
2 Sketches 4 You
Debbie Olson 
Kazan Clark 
Laura Davis 
Barb Schram 
Angie Tieman 
Heidi Blankenship 
Courtney Baker 
Michele Kovack 
Julie Lacey 
Sankari Wegman 
Laurie Willison 
Stephanie Kraft 
Mona Pendleton 
Angela Barkhouse 
Regina Mangum

Kris Kringle Card

Welcome! Today I have a fun little Christmas card made with a Hero Arts Kris Kringle digital stamp that I printed on my inkjet printer and colored with my Copic markers (shown below).  I resized it in the print dialog box to fit on the front on a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card and printed in on Copic Blender Card[stock]. 

Yes, I used a LOT of markers! Sometimes I get carried away. This was such a beautiful image, and I just kept coloring. . . and coloring. . .

See the texture on the toy bag? That was added with my Copic colorless blender solution and an old cotton sweater scrap. Papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather Mini Deck, and twill is natural twill, tea-dyed. The button is a Papertrey Ink Fine Linen Vintage Button. Isn't this a sweet image?

Thanks for visiting today! 

Tattered Florals Poinsettia Card on the Classroom Blog today

Welcome! Today I have a Christmas card posted on the CLASSroom blog here. We got our tree up this weekend--yay! I hope you are having a fabulous Sunday. Thanks for stopping by.

Spellbinders Holiday Hoppin' Blog Hop

This post is now closed for comments; thank you for entering! Winners will be announced on November 22, on the Spellbinders Blog.

Welcome to the first day of the Spellbinders™ Paper Arts Holiday Hoppin’ Blog Hop!  Spellbinders and several other paper crafting companies are showcasing their newest products just in time for your holiday crafting and gift giving.  Lots of creative ideas are in store, as well as prizes galore!  Each participating company has generously donated towards the prize package listed on the Spellbinders Blog.  A total of two identical prize packages, one for each day, November 18 and 19, will be given away!  To enter, just leave a comment on a participating blog.  Comments in the first 48 hours of the post are eligible.  One commenter each day will be randomly selected as the winner.  Winners will be announced on November 22, on the Spellbinders Blog.

Be sure to see all of tomorrow's Holiday Hoppin' blogs for inspiring projects and another chance to win!

Today’s Holiday Hoppin’ blogs:

Latisha Yoast

Judy Hayes

Kazan Clark

Ashley Cannon Newell

Holly Simoni

Debbie Olson (here)

Heidi Blankenship

Sherry Cheever

Linda Duke

Laurie Schmidlin

Cheryl Marie Walker

Jill Jacobsen

Jennifer Priest

Christina Klauer

Jodi Sanford

Leslie Miller

Mimi Leinbach

Robyn O’Crowley

Sharon Harnist

Liz Hicks

Sarah Hamer

Christie Bryant 

Wendy Sue Anderson

Anary Baumgarth

Jenifer Dove

Gina Krupsky

Today I am using Spellbinders S4-293 Lacey Circles die template and both sets of Standard Circles Nestabilities (S4-114 and S4-116). From other participating companies I am using JustRite Stampers' Christmas Nested Sentiments and Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather Mini Deck papers.

The Lacey Circles die template set contains FIVE dies from about 1-1/4" across up to about 4-1/4" across--large enough for a round card base. Here I used the second from the largest in the set. Pearl flourish is a Zva Creative piece (PE-02CB-144) that I cut apart strategically to make it work with my focal image. Ribbon is some white seam binding that I dyed with a Copic BG10 refill. I dripped a few drops of E50 as well, in order to give it an aged look.

Ribbon is some white seam binding that I dyed with a Copic BG10 refill. I dripped a few drops of E50 as well, in order to give it an aged look.

So, how do you enter?

Simply leave a comment on my blog to be eligible to win the Spellbinders Holiday Hoppin’ Prize Package!  One winner will be chosen from all the comments on all the blogs participating today.  Comments made in the first 48 hours of this post will be eligible to win.  Winner’s names will be published on the Spellbinders Blog on November 22, and they will have 48 hours to reply to Spellbinders to claim the prizes.

Thank you for visiting!

JustRite Twelve Weeks of Christmas Blog Hop Eleven

Welcome to the eleventh week of JustRite Stampers’ Wednesday feature, Twelve Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops!  Every Wednesday up until Thanksgiving some of your favorite designers will be joining some of the JustRite design team for a series of Christmas blog hops, showcasing JustRite’s entire Christmas Collection of stamps. Don’t forget that JustRite has some Christmas stamps in their newly released CLING line of stamp sets, too -- you can find them HERE.  This week, the designers joining the JustRite design team are the Stampers Dream design team and a few other special guests!

For the month of November, we are switching gears a bit and throwing in some holiday gift ideas using your JustRite stamps, so be watching for those sprinkled into the November hops. And in celebration of JustRite’s Christmas Blog Hops, now through November 29 take 25% off all JustRite Original Christmas stamp sets, with free shipping within the U.S. on orders over $50 -- Don't forget to tell Santa!

For my focal image, I chose one of the new cling line of stamps, Simple Blessings. I stamped the church scene in Tuxedo Black Memento ink on Copic's X-Press Blender Card and colored it with the Copic markers shown below. 

The E42 was used to airbrush my white cardstock so that it would coordinate better with the cream tones in the patterned paper that I was using, Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather Mini Deck.

I used a glue pen to add glitter for the snow--wish you could see it shine! For the sentiment, I curved the stamp--took some work since it is mounted on cling foam, but I just needed a small curve. I sketched the banner in pencil and then cut it out and added gold paint pen to the border. The die that I used to cut and emboss the focal image is a Spellbinders Classic Ovals Small die template. 

Please visit these designers’ blogs to see what fabulous JustRite Christmas inspiration they have for you on the hop today. Thanks for stopping by!

Hyperlinked: 

JustRite Inspiration Blog  
Beate Johns  
Debbie Olson  (here)
Michelle Rodgers 
Sankari Wegman 
Tosha Leyendekker 
Kazan Clark 
Lori Craig 
Amy Sheffer 
Stephanie Kraft 
Denise Marzec 
Michele Kovack 
Carolyn King 
Barb Schram 
Jenn Balcer 
Cindy Lawrence 
Angela Barkhouse 
Christina Fischer 
Heidi Blankenship 
Mariana Grigsby 
Terre Fry 
Teresa Kline 

Cosmo Cricket Snowman House

Welcome! This little project was on the Cosmo Cricket blog Saturday, but I thought I would share the details here today. I'm in Detroit tonight for a Copic Certification class on Tuesday, but I'll be posting several times while I'm gone anyway. I hope to see some of you there! Just so you know, if you are interested in having a Copic Intermediate Certification Class in your area, please be sure to sign up on the certification mailing list at the Copic site to indicate your interest. It's the only way that we will know where to schedule!

I used a Cosmo Cricket Blackboard House Album and covered it with papers from the Mitten Weather Mini Deck. After covering both the base inside and outside layers of the house, I used several Spellbinders dies to cut various roof shingle layers. It was one of those "open up the die drawer and play" decisions! ;-)

Spellbinders dies shown here from bottom up: Fresh Fruit Borderabilities Petite, Deckled Scalloped Edge, Fair Aisle Borderabilities Petite, and Lacey Squares.

The snowman and the trim on the lower part of the house are from the Mitten Weather chipboard collection.

The snowman's banner was made from red Tiny Type, attached to a scrap of acetate (clear stamp carrier) and trimmed closely. Finished size is about 5-1/2" x 6", and it will look sweet on our Christmas tree. Thanks for stopping by!

Papertrey Ink November Release--the rest. . .

Welcome! Tonight I'm sharing the rest of my November Papertrey Ink Release projects. (If you are here looking for details on the little snowman house ornament, I'll try my best to have that up Tuesday morning; I ran into a conflict for Monday.)  

First up is a simple card with Lisa Johnson's Larger than Life set. I inked the flowers in purple and green inks, then spritzed with a water mister and stamped. The lighter image is the second generation stamp--spritzed again, but not re-inked. All specific product details for the projects below are found in my Papertrey Gallery here.

How about a Year of Flowers: Mums card next? I love mums--tiny ones, large ones--all ones! I kept this card really simple, letting the mum steal the show. Papertrey Copic combos that I used are shown below.

For Heather's Warm Happiness Too set, I had to make another cocoa packet card. I made one of these a couple of years ago and offered the template as a .pdf file back then, so if you've been blog hopping for a while, you may have those one on your hard drive already. If not, here it is again. Download DOlson_CocoaPackTempl

Besides the Warm Happiness Too set, I also used Fillable Frames 10 for the frame shape behind the cocoa cup. I cut the banner by hand. Paper  is Jack Frost from Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather line.

This is the inside of the cocoa packet card. As you can see, the focal image tag is attached with a ribbon so that it can be slipped off easily to open the card and remove the cocoa packet.

Finally, Allie's Take Three: Winter--that coordinating triple window die is so helpful with the Take Three sets! I used Aqua Mist ink to stamp the snowflakes, added touches of glitter, and used Rustic Snowflakes papers for the card front. This is a classic winter set!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy PTI shopping!

Signature Series Showcase

Welcome to a second Papertrey Ink group posts for November! Today's post showcases a fun little series of signature Dawn McVey stamps--literally! If you have been following Dawn's blog this week, you've seen an amazing array of creativity there. Since she is introducing several of these small Signature Series sets, the team divided up the sets; I chose the Signature Series: Flower set and its coordinating die.

Papers are from Heather's Library Ledger Collection. The card is a smaller than A-2, at 3-1/2" x 5", and both the tag and its mat layer are Papertrey die cuts, Tag Sale 2 and Fillable Frames 7. I trimmed around the stamped flowers by hand and then used the coordinating die to mat the trimmed flower. 

I have a little bonus project too. The flower shape reminded me of a poinsettia, so I die-cut two layers from Papertrey's cream felt and a third layer from Chartreuse felt. I sewed some seed pearls in the center and a pin on the back. To attach it to a 3" x 3" mini card, I punched two 1/4" holes and inserted the pin base through the holes. The "Joy to the World" sentiment is from Dawn's Signature Christmas set.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the team did with the Signature Series. Thanks for visiting!

Nichole Heady
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Erin Lincoln
Heather Nichols
Kim Hughes
Lisa Johnson
Maile Belles
Melissa Phillips
Michelle Wooderson
Niki Estes

It's a Banner Day

I have been looking forward to a Papertrey banner set forever, so it is indeed a banner day! For one of this month's Papertrey Ink group posts, we all chose a different holiday or occasion for which to create a banner; mine was America's Independence Day. In addition to the fabulous banner dies, I also used some older PTI sets, Star Prints and Let Freedom Ring. 

Papers are from the Webster's Pages Sweet as Cherry Pie line, combined with PTI's Kraft, Enchanted Evening, and Pure Poppy cardstock and vintage buttons.

 

The rhinestone flourish is a Zva Creative piece (CR02CA113). All dies used are Papertrey Ink. I used a Fiskars star punch as well, to provide that little mat layer directly behind the stamped top stars. 

Ribbon is Papertrey's Fine Linen Grosgrain and twill. Those little clothespins are from Hero Arts--aren't they sweet? I used a glue pen and some Prisma Glitter on the white star mats as well. This was such a fun project. I'm in a banner-making mood now--I just need some TIME to make them! Did you notice that each banner had a different pattern for the top part? Hmmm--looks like  fabulous card accessory to me too. ;-)

Not only are there large banner die sets, but there are also some smaller ones with coordinating Banner Builders stamps--love them too, and they are the perfect scale for cardmakers!  For this project, I chose to make a baby card. Paper is Bulleseye from Pink Paislee's Cupid Collection. PTI cardstock is Chartreuse, Berry Sorbet, and Hawaiian Shores.

I used PTI's Fresh Alphabet for the letters, along with a 1/2" circle punch. The only tricky part was cutting around the stamped string image, but you could also use real string or bakers twine.  Oh the possibilities!

Be sure to see what the rest of the PTI crew did with the Banner Builders set and dies; I can't wait to see that myself! Thanks for stopping by.

Nichole Heady
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Erin Lincoln
Heather Nichols
Kim Hughes
Lisa Johnson
Maile Belles
Melissa Phillips
Michelle Wooderson
Niki Estes