Thinking Inking

Playing with Burlap. . .

Welcome! Does it feel like Spring yet where you are? Yesterday felt enough like Spring here for us to take two walks, but I think we may have snow again soon. Still, I'm definitely being bitten by the Spring-cleaning bug, so Spring must be on the way! In expectation of warmer days, I played with some brighter colors today, using JustRite's Burlap Chevron Background Cling Stamp. 

 

I kept both of my cards really simple. Somehow burlap seems to need simplicity, though the chevron twist adds a trendy factor to the Burlap Chevron Background Cling Stamp. I used two different sentiments from the Grand Handwritten Sentiments clear stamp set. 

So, the back story. . . I had made the "Miss You" card first, and I wasn't sure that I liked it. Instead of re-inking the Burlap Chevron Background stamp, I just spritzed my still-somewhat-inky stamp with water and re-stamped it on a second piece of kraft cardstock. I liked the second card, the "Hello" card, better than the "Missing You" card. But when my fifteen-year-old saw both cards, he liked the "Missing You" card much better. Hmmmm. . . That's how I came to post both cards--take your pick! ;-)

The Details
Stamps: Burlap Chevron Background Cling Stamp, Grand Handwritten Sentiments clear stamp set (JustRite PaperCraft)
Dies: Pierced Rectangles, Pierced Circles, Standard Circles Small (Spellbinders Paper Arts)
Cardstock: Kraft, Tropical Teal, Rustic Cream (PTI)
Ink: Tropical Teal, Simply Chartreuse, Terracotta Tile, Orange Zest, Hibiscus Burst, Chamomile Distres Ink (PTI)
Accessories: Rustic Twine, buttons (PTI), cotton crochet thread (WalMart)

I hope that you get a chance to visit the blogs below and see how the other DT girls used today's sets. Thanks for visiting!

JustRite Inspiration
Becca Feeken
Eva Dobilas
Kristi Schurr
Darsie Bruno
Michele Kovack
Heidi Blankenship
Kathy Jones
Marisa Job

P.S. I just noticed that TODAY (March 31, midnight EST) is the last day of the 20% off Spellbinders dies sale at JustRite. I don't think you need a coupon code; the sale price should show on the site. HTH!

Birthday Lavender

Welcome! I'm home from Texas, and today I have a birthday card to share. Lately I've been working on adding examples of colored metals to my Copic Workshops portfolio;. When I saw this Power Poppy bucket of Lavender image, I knew that it was a perfect little image to experiment with in practicing coloring metallic surfaces. 

These are the Copic markers that I used to color the Lavender image. For the bucket, I started just to the left of center with a clean-edged stripe of W7, then added a small stripe of W5 to the left of that one. Next I came in from the right and worked a quick gradation, running from W7 on the far right, to W5 to W3 to W1 to 0 as I proceeded toward the center of the bucket, leaving a strip of white paper at the edge of the W1/0 area so that I wouldn't soften the W7 edge that was on the left side of the bucket. It's a super-simple way to create instant shine!

I used the Spellbinders Regal Frame die template set to cut my focal image and its silver mat layer. I then used a silver paint pen to edge the layer on which my focal image was stamped and colored. The metallic silver string is from my old Stampin' Up stash--one day I'm gong to run out of that roll and need more! My finished card is 5" x 7". Now I need to play with a few more metallic color schemes on that bucket image. . . ;-)

Thank you for visiting,

Do Not Fear

Welcome! I'm headed home to Michigan from Texas this weekend, and it's a good thing--I'm almost out of cards that I have ready to blog! When I needed a simple encouragement card for a friend a couple of weeks ago, I returned to my Papertrey Ink Beautiful Blessings stamp set--it's a hard one to beat.

After using Distress Inks to watercolor a background, I used a Spellbinders Pierced Rectangles die template to cut and emboss my focal image panel. Next I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink and heat-embossed it with detail white embossing powder. I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch two equidistant holes from either side and ran a length of Copic-dyed seam binding through the holes before tying a bow. Finally, I used foam tape to attach the focal panel to a card base, and I was finished--easy!

Hope you're having a great week,

A Wonderful Day

Welcome, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you! I'm still in Texas visiting my sister's family, but I finished a few cards before I left so that I could post from here. (And I can tell you that it's a LOT warmer in Abilene than it is in the U.P. of Michigan!) I've been enjoying playing, cuddling, rocking, and coloring with the three-year old and the six-year old; and the toddler is starting to warm up to auntie too. :-) 

Today's card used the Power Poppy Lavender clear stamp set, colored with the Copic markers shown below and some lovely Spellbinders Marvelous Squares dies.

It's a small image, so I didn't use a ton of my Copic markers today!

In addition to cutting the center panel's frame piece with Marvelous Squares and embossing the Kraft piece with Marvelous Squares, I cut the focal image panel and the top kraft panel with Pierced Squares. I dyed white rayon seam binding with Copic V04 with a couple of drops of Colorless Blender added to help it move through the ribbon easily. I wrote a sentiment on the tiny tag in the image before I realized that there were stamps in the set that fit on the tag--oops! My finished card size is 5-1/4" square. Well, I'm off to play. . . or color. . . or pull a wagon--something like that anyway! Thanks for stopping by,

Power Poppy Instant Garden: Dancing with Daffodils

Welcome! Calling all flower lovers out there--today is the release day for a new Power Poppy digital image, Dancing with Daffodils. I love Daffodils, and my favorite ones are the old timey ones that used to grow wild near my childhood home. They weren't as flashy as the beautiful hybrids of today are, but they smelled absolutely heavenly. Nothing could make a kid happier than walking down the road to pick daffodils at an abandoned homestead and bringing them back to a sweet Mama or Grandmother. . . 

I printed my Dancing with Daffodils image on X-Press It Blending Card using my Canon inkjet printer, then proceeded to color it with the Copic markers shown below. (All laser printers should be Copic-compatible, but you have to test inkjet printers to see if they are Copic compatible. Mine is, as long as I don't buy the really cheap generic ink cartridges.)

Here is a Pin-able image for you, showing which Copic Markers I used where on the image.

I used a Spellbinders Pierced Ovals die template to both cut the oval opening for my daffodils and to pierce the oval frame. Yellow cardstock is Papertrey's Harvest Gold. My finished card size is standard A-2, 5-1/2" x 4-1/4". 

Would you like to see what the rest of the Power Poppy Instant Gardeners did with the Dancing with Daffodils digital stamps? You'll love what you see, I promise!

Danielle Kennedy
Jennifer Dove
Rhea Weigand
Broni Holcombe
Cheryl Scrivens
Marcella Hawley

Thanks for visiting,

Have a SUPER Day!

Welcome! I've been trying to get a few cards made before I leave tomorrow morning for my Dallas Copic Certification classes. And since I'm already going to be in Texas, I'm planning to visit my sister's family in Abilene; I have two nieces there, ages 6 and 3, and a nephew, age 1. We'll have a good old time! :-)  Thinking of the littles made me want to pull out a whimsical stamp set again. I chose one of my MFT Birdie Brown stamp sets, You're Super. And since black hair is my Copic hair nemesis, I decided to try her with black hair!

Shown above are the Copic Sketch markers that I used to color Supergirl. I loved how her boots turned out! I finally figured out a good way to make them shine: One strong line of C9 on one side, then from the opposite direction a quickly graduated blend, with a strip of white paper left between the two. That's my *best* shine tip!

I used a Spellbinders Pierced Rectangles die template to get the pierced edge on both the the card front and the inner sentiment panel. And I airbrushed the background using Copic R85 in the Center, and B95 radiating out from the center. paired with MFT's Sun Ray Stencil (out of stock at the moment). In addition to being black-hair challenged, I'm also sequin challenged. . . but, hey, I tried! :-) 

Well, that's it for today. I need to start packing. Hope to see some of you in Dallas this weekend!

Celebrate Your Day, Dad!

Welcome! How about a guy card today? I rarely have these made ahead of time, for some reason, so I'm always glad when I have a stamp set that works well for Father's Day or masculine birthday cards. I used two sets from JustRite's March release, Stacking Sentiments clear stamps and A2 Woodgrain Upcycled Frame Background cling stamp, both shown below.

  

Stacking Sentiments can be combined and stacked two sentiments deep to fill the A2 Woodgrain Upcycled Frame's opening.

I stamped my frame in Memento Rich Cocoa ink on PTI Kraft cardstock, then colored random squares with Copic B93, B95, or E44 Sketch Markers. I used a Spellbinders Pierced Rectangles die to create a border for my closely trimmed frame stamp. For the inside sentiments, I used PTI Enchanted Evening and Dark Chocolate inks. Keeping it simple, I finished my card with a wooden button and a length of rustic twine. (I'm still debating whether the tiny bow should be a knot instead!)

Would you like to see more possibilities with the Stacking Sentiments and A2 Woodgrain Upcycled Frame sets that I've used today? The team members below have all featured these stamps today--enjoy!

JustRite Inspiration 
Becca Feeken
Eva Dobilas 
Kristi Schurr
Marisa Job
Michele Kovack
Darsie Bruno
Heidi Blankenship
Margie Higuchi  

P.S. I just saw that all JustRite CLING stamps are 25% off through March 15. I don't think you need any sale code; it should just show up in your cart at a reduced price. HTH!

Never More Than a Thought Away

Welcome! I'm home from my Detroit Copic classes and trying to find my routine again--at least for the next ten days until I leave for my Dallas Copic Certification classes. I generally take some images to be colored in case I have down time on trips, and the Power Poppy French Lilac digital image that I used on the card above is one of those that was colored here an little and there a little.

Shown above are the Copic markers that I used on the French Lilac image. I love that little ladybug!

I used a Spellbinders Pierced Rectangles die template to create the edge on the MFT Grapesicle cardstock card front. Ribbon is white seam binding dyed with Copic YG95 Various Inks, combined with a few drops of Colorless Blender (which helps the ink to spread a saturate the seam binding a bit better). The card sentiment is from Power Poppy's Lavender clear stamp set.

I will  be back on Thursday with a Father's Day card--Winter will eventually end, right? Thank you for visiting,