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Thursday, June 30, 2011

My Heart Stamps 4 You Irises

Purple happens to be one of my favorite colors, so imagine my delight when Sandra and Betsy, owners of Dolce Stamps and Cards, sent me this awesome iris image by My Heart Stamps 4 You. Copic markers are pretty much my go to coloring medium, although I do enjoy watercoloring with reinkers as well. I just love how well the Copic markers blend colors, especially on flowers.  This beautiful butterfly image is also by My Heart Stamps 4 You and colored with Copic markers.  I also favor polkadots and stripes in many of my designs.   I like how well the striped designer paper accented the beautiful irises.



Dolce Stamps and Cards will be featuring cards of the design team members every day on their blog.  You won't want to miss out on seeing the beautiful creations my friends on the design team have made.

Stamps:                    Iris Frame and Painted Lady Butterfly by My Heart Stamps for You (available at Dolce Stamps and Cards)
Ink:                            Memento Black
Paper:                       White, Black, The Paper Cut Festive Pastel Variety (Lilac), Recollections Purple Pinstripe
Embellishments:     Ranger Firefly Stickles
Tools:                        Square Lattice embossing folder, Marvy corner scallop punch, Copic markers

If you're looking for my CCEE Stampers card, it's the next post down. 

Thanks for visiting and, as always, I appreciate your comments!  Have a terrific day!

Royal Crown Jewels

Do you have a Cricut that's been gathering dust due to lack of use?  I know I've been pretty lazy about pulling mine out and using it.  It's a good thing Frances challenged the CCEE Stampers to use them in our design today.  I used the hat from the Sweet Treats cartridge using brushed silver cardstock.  It reminds me of a crown, so I bejeweled mine with gemstones.  I used my Ultramarine Copic marker to color the tiny clear gemstones on the bottom of the crown and the ones down the left side of my card.  Gotta love those Copics!  I scored the lines in the middle of the crown.


Please visit our CCEE Stampers blog to see what Cindy, Shirley, Frances, Tosha, and Joanne created.  Perhaps you'd like to join us!

Stamps:  Baroque Motifs, Create a Cupcake
Ink:  Brilliant Blue
Cardstock:  Brilliant Blue, White, Brushed Silver, and striped designer paper
Accessories:  Cricut Sweet Treats cartridge, gemstones, butterfly die, border punch, JustRite Custom Tag dies, oval Nestability, dimensionals, stickles


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Word Window Slider Card - A Tutorial

It's Teapot Tuesday over on Splitcoaststampers and da Mudder is insisting that the teapotters go back to school and learn how to count!  We were to put at least two of the same thing and numbers in our design.  You can get the full story and details here.

I wanted to try my hand at creating something new.  I call it my interactive Word Window Slider Card.  I don't think this specific design has ever been done before.....at least nothing that I've come across.  I do have to give credit to Beate Johns who did a slider tutorial using the plastic shopping bag for a single slider.  Her plastic shopping bag idea was exactly what I wanted to use for my slider.  Here it is with both the open and closed views.


(Sentiment sliders pulled out)


 (Sentiment sliders pushed in)

I have never tried to do a tutorial before, but I thought I'd give it a try and post it on my blog for anyone who is interested in creating something similar.  I have a lot of pictures to show for each step of creating the entire card, so this post is a long one.


Here are all the supplies I used.


My sentiments were computer generated using a 2Peas Raspberry, size 11 font and then punched with the word window punch by Stampin' Up.


I adhered a small piece of ScorTape on the end of the word window sentiment punch that I wanted to adhere to the plastic shopping bag strip.


I attached the word window sentiment punched pieces to a 1/2" x 5" piece of plastic shopping bag.  You can see I had to trim around the end of the punched piece so that the bag doesn't show when pulled out.  I didn't  worry about my cutting being imperfect on the plastic bag strips as these will be hidden.


Before adhering the word window pieces to the white cardstock, I measured down 1" as a guide for placing the word window punch piece onto the white cardstock.  I then measured in from the side at 2" and placed a small piece of ScorTape at this 2" mark so I could attach the end of my plastic bag strip.



I aligned the word window sentiment punched pieces to the edge of the white cardstock at the 1" mark, leaving just a tip of the punch on the white cardstock base.  I then adhered the opposite end of the plastic bag strip to the 2" mark to hold my slider in place.

 
I attached my  4 1/4" and 5 1/2" of yellow gingham designer paper to the same size of white cardstock for sturdiness.  I then punched half of  a 1/2" circle punch at the 1" mark on the gingham dp.  These will be the semi-circle holes where my word window sentiment will slide in and out.


I adhered the gingham panel over the white cardstock with the word window sentiment pieces.  I found it easiest to have the punched pieces extended out to help guide me in lining it up.  The slider portion of the card is now finished.


If you are interested in continuing on, the rest of my photos show how I colored my stamped image/scene.  I am by no means an artist.  I am just sharing my simplistic way to add grass if you don't have grass stamps or dies.


I started by coloring in the grass blades using the chiseled end of my Copic marker (Grass Green).


I added the next row of grass with the same type of slash marks and marker.


I finished off the entire grassy area in this manner.



Using the fine tip point of my Garden Green Stampin' Up marker, I added more blades of grass for definition.



I used an Olive Copic marker to add shading under the chicks to ground them.


I then added Grass Green over the Olive for blending purposes.



I sponged Barely Banana just above the grass.  This is a trick I learned from my friend Kittie.


I used a scalloped circle punch on a post-it note to sponge around, thereby creating my clouds. My friend and hostess of the Teapot Tuesday challenges, Cindy, shared that awesome idea with many of us!  I have the Stampin' Up cloud template, but it's a little too large for my purposes here.


Colored my chicks using Golden Yellow and Cadmium Orange.


Stamped mama chick on yellow gingham paper and cut out.  I used a craft knife to cut out her nose, and adhered this piece to the main image panel.



Apply glue to chicks' bodies. 



Added flocking powder.


Tapped off excess powder.  The chicklets' tiny eyes are hard to see since I've covered them with flocking powder.  I took the fine tip of my black marker to dot their eyes back in, as well as accent the wing of the center chicklette.

Attached image panel to yellow gingham.  Punched 1/4" circle punches from Summer Sun cardstock for faux brads.  I used a Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge to cut my numbers out of black cardstock.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  I'd be interested in seeing anything you create using this tutorial! 


Thursday, June 23, 2011

A Hummingbird Video to Share

I love hummingbirds and have a feeder just outside my stamp room window.  My husband shot this hummingbird video and set it to Flight of the Bumblebee music.  The ending couldn't have been any more perfect.  Enjoy!

Rubbernecker Designs

I have a couple Rubbernecker designs I'd like to share with you.

Today's Ways to Use It challenge on Splitcoaststampers is to use no white cardstock in your design!  To me, that screams some kind of vintage design. 


I love this sweet Child with Bouquet image by Rubbernecker. I copper embossed her onto Creamy Caramel cardstock and colored her with various inks and blender pen.  I adhered some cream crochet ribbon over a satiny sage green with 1/8" Scor Tape

Stamps: Child with Bouquet (#532-09) Rubbernecker
Cardstock: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Cosmo Cricket dp
Ink: Adirondack Cranberry and Pesto; Ranger Distress Inks (Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Broken China, Peeled Paint)
Accessories: oval Nestabilities, dimensionals, green ribbon, cream crochet ribbon, copper embossing powder, versamark, Scor Tape


I made this Rubbernecker design yesterday using the sketch challenge on SCS.  I love this cool circular sentiment.




Stamps:   Wildflowers (#496-08); Friends (#565-20)
Cardstock:  Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Black, Little Yellow Bicycle Leaf a Note dp
Ink:  Memento Black, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive
Accessories:  circle Nestabilities, black button, paper piercer, black fine tip marker
If you're looking for my CCEE Stampers' card, it's the next post down. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!


National Pink Day

Let's get our PINK on in honor of National Pink Day!  That's the challenge Frances has given the CCEE Stampers this week. 


You wanna get your pink on with us? Check out the challenge details and see the fabulous creations my friends Frances, Cindy, Joanne, Shirley, and Tosh have made on the CCEE Stampers' blog!

Supplies I used:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up's FYI
Cardstock:  Whisper White and Good Neighbor designer paper
Ink:  Memento Black
Accessories:  Elizabeth Crafts Designs flower sticker (available at Dolce Stamps and Cards) colored with Copic markers, circle punch, Spellbinders Fancy Tags die, Spellbinders circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities, pink gemstones, white lace ribbon

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Butterfly Flight

I made this card in honor of the Featured Stamper on Splitcoaststampers today, Tami Mayberry.  As the challenge rules dictate, you choose one of the featured stamper's card designs from her gallery and case it, but making it your own.  I cased Tami's cute Wish card.  I changed colors, added a couple layers, and used pearls instead of buttons for the body of the butterfly. 

This butterfly is actually a silver sticker by Elizabeth Craft Designs that I got from Dolce Stamps and Cards.  They are so fun and easy to use!  You peel the sticker away from the sticker sheet and place it onto your piece of cardstock.  I colored my butterfly with Copic markers (B04, B06, B28, YG11, Y21), but you can also lay the stickers onto colored cardstock or designer paper.  I then hand cut the sticker from my cardstock so I could adhere the body only of the butterfly to my polkadotted panel, lifting up it's wings.   Dolce carries a great variety of these Elizabeth Craft Designs stickers (Christmas, birthday, floral, etc.), and you can bet I'll be getting more of them!  I also got the medium-sized pearls at Dolce Stamps and Cards.  The ones on my scalloped border are the natural color they came in.  I used the same pearls for the center of the butterfly's body, but I colored them with my Peacock Blue Copic marker (B06).  I also colored the mini pearls with this same color. 

I love creating my own designer paper and playing with various inks.  For the spotted background paper here, I used Adirondack Alcohol Inks in Pool, Stream, and Willow on my blending tool and stamped that all over glossy white cardstock.  I then added drops of the same ink colors over that to create the larger circles.  I used a touch of alcohol blending solution, as well.  Once this dried, I spritzed some champagne shimmer mist of the cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you're having a terrific weekend!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Digger Flies a Kite

Frances challenged the CCEE Stampers to incorporate a kite into our designs.  I don't have any kite stamps so I had to make mine.  I drew the outline of a kite on the back of my designer paper, cut it out, and then used a Classic Diamond Nestability for the patterned paper in the center of the kite.



Incorporating a kite into my design definitely called for some scene work, in my opinion.   I pulled out my Rubbernecker sets:  Kittie Kits Cause a Scene set for the tree and grass and this adorable doggie, whom I've named Digger, from the Animals set.  Digger and the tree trunk were colored with Copic markers.   I fussy cut Digger and popped him up on dimensionals.  The kite string is embroidery thread that I looped around Digger's tail so he can fly his kite.   Inks I used for the tree leaves and grass were a combination of  Stampin' Up's Certainly Celery, Old Olive and Always Artichoke and Adirondack Lettuce.

I made my sun using the largest Stampin' Up star punch and the 3/4" circle punch out of this cute Good Neighbor designer paper.  I used the Martha Stewart leaf punch for the bows on my kite string.  I punched a post-it note with the large scallop punch to sponge around thereby creating the clouds in my sky.  I lightly sponged Barely Banana just above the ground line and Certainly Celery on the ground.

Digger sure has a goofy look on his face (like a deer in headlights, if you ask me), but he is having fun romping around in the lush grass flying his kite!

Be sure to stop by the CCEE Stampers blog and check out the designs of my teammates.  Why not play along with us, too?

And, if you didn't get a chance to read my blog post from yesterday, you might want to scroll down to see the great blog candy Dolce Stamps and Cards is offering.

Have a great day!


Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Happy News and Blog Candy!

I am so excited to tell you that I have been selected as one of the original design team members for Dolce Stamps and Cards!   You'll want to read through this entire post to find out how you can win some fabulous blog candy!

When I received my first Dolce product kit, I squealed with delight when I saw this darling Girlfriend Art Impressions image.  This particular image is called Under My Umbrella and you can find it here at the Dolce Stamps and Cards web store.  You can also click here at the Design Team Gallery (or the same link on the home page of Dolce Stamps and Cards) to see all the creations of the entire design team!  Just click on each image and it will give you detailed information on how each designer created her card.


I colored the Girlfriends with Copic markers, adding the polkadotted pattern to the purple coat on the far right with the tip of my Copic marker.   I also paper pieced the umbrella with some of the Cosmo Cricket Salt Air designer paper.  The background designer paper is from this same packet of Cricket Salt Air.  The Petaloo Color Me Crazy Flowers come in white so you can color them to coordinate with your color theme.  How cool is that?!?!?  I colored mine with Copic markers.  The sentiment is also by Art Impressions.

Here is a list of all the supplies I used in my design today.    Note:  the stamps, the Memento Black ink, and all the cardstock and designer papers I used are available at the Dolce Stamps and Cards store.  I love one-stop shopping!

Stamps:                    Under My Umbrella Girlfriends and Friends Share sentiment by Art Impressions
Ink:                           Memento Black, Stampin’ Up Espresso
Paper:                      White, The Paper Cut Festive Earth Variety, Cosmo Cricket Salt Air designer paper
Embellishments:    Petaloo Color Me Crazy Flowers, chocolate brad
Tools:                          oval punch, scalloped oval punch, large scallop border die, spiral border punch, large polkadotted embossing folder, Copic markers, pop-up glue dot

Now, be sure to visit the Dolce Stamps and Cards blog for some fabulous blog candy!! 


Cosmo Cricket Mini Deck
Hero Arts Hero Hues pens, flowers and ribbon
Petaloo Flowers
4 My Heart Stamps For You
2 Art Impressions Stamps
1 Impression Obsession Stamp
JudiKins Diamond Glaze
Dragonfly Quicklets
Sailboat and Baseball brads

Thanks for stopping by, and, as always, I appreciate your comments!


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Back in the Saddle Again

Howdy, Pahdners!  I hope everyone is having a whoopin' good time this fine Tuesday.   Speaking of Tuesday, it's time for the weekly Teapot Tuesday and Color challenges over at Splitcoaststampers (SCS)!  If you've never participated in the weekly challenges on SCS, it's a wonderful way to get the creative juices flowing.  And, it's so much fun seeing what everyone comes up with!

The Color challenge this week is to use Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Vanilla.  The dessert option is to have one rounded corner in your design.  The Teapot Tuesday challenge is to use a horse in your design and include a flower somewhere. 

I chose to use this beautiful horse image designed by Theresa Momber from her Out West set (available at Gina K Designs).  I colored my horse with Copic markers (E19, E29, E35, E37, E49, E50, and E57).  I cut out the image and popped it up on a Very Vanilla oval panel.  For the flowers, I used my Martha Stewart hydrangea punch in Old Olive and Stampin' Up's double circle punch for the Ruby Red centers and glued those around the oval panel.  I cut out a larger Scalloped Oval (Nestability) panel in Very Vanilla and attached my image panel to that with pop-up dots for dimension.



The chocolate background was embossed with a paisley embossing folder.  The polkadotted Old Olive designer paper is from Stampin' up and was cut using the Topnote die.

Here's somewhat of a close up so you can see the horse and the dimension a little better.




For those of you who may not be aware, Cindy (aka Mothermark also known lovingly as da Mudder)always has a destination for the Teapot Tuesday cards.  (participating is stricly voluntary).  Our cards this week will be going to the daughter of a fellow Teapotter (Cathy, aka Mutnik).  Her daughter, Jessica, was thrown from her horse when he lost his footing on the trail they were on.  Jessica's fall fractured her skull in the back of her head, fractured her right temple and has two fractures on each side of her spine by her pelvisShe has a long road to recovery, and her mother knows it would bring a smile to her daughter's face if she were to receive some happy mail that included horse images.


Thursday, June 9, 2011

Sporting Good Time



Frances has challenged the CCEE Stampers to make a sports-themed card.  I used my Ralph Golfing image (SKU #78-04) by Rubbernecker, coloring him with Copic markers.  Frances also recently did a video tutorial for Splitcoaststampers on a center step card that I wanted to try.  She gives excellent directions and this is very easy to make.

Check out what my CCEE Stampers' teammates have made and play along with us!


Monday, June 6, 2011

Play on Words with an Animal Gift Set

Happy Monday, my stamping/bloggfing friends!  I use to detest Mondays when I was working, but now that I am retired, every day is like a Saturday!!  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  More time for me and stamping!  Giggle.

There are two fun challenges going on over at Splitcoaststampers today:  (1)  Clean and Simple to design your card around a play on words (2) Technique to decorate the envelope!!

I recently received some new rubbah from Rubbernecker, and I just LOVE these adorable animals and their play-on-word sentiments.  I made a gift set using four of the animals; there are many more cute ones in the set!   You can do a search on the Rubbernecker website using their SKU numbers.  The Animals are #569 and the Sentiments are #568.


And here are the cards individually, including a close up for each of the popped-up animals.  As always, you can click on the individual photo for a larger view.

Each animal was colored with Copic markers, cut out, and popped up on 1/8" dimensionals.  I drew the grass and waves on the back of my designer paper and cut them out.  I used border punches for the bottoms of the other two cards.  I just love Joan's technique challenge to make a coordinating envelope! 












Thanks for stopping by.  As always, I treasure your comments.  I hope you're having a "Whale of a Good Day!"