Something Girly...

Wow! Another week has just rushed by! Are you ready for another challenge with Stamp Something? This week, our challenge for you is to create Something Girly. Pinks, frills, anything Girly goes!

We're being sponsored by Sassy Studio Designs this week, and they very generously gave the dt images to work with. I chose Baby Bump, and used her to create a card for my sister who is expecting her second child this September.

Baby Bump was colored with copic markers and accented with Spica pens. I found the poem online, and printed it in my photo editing program. I cut it out with an oval nestabilities die, and then layered it on a labels 5 nestabilities die to create a frame. The pretty paper is another sheet from the Pocket full of Posies matstack by DCVW that I used in a previous post (I'm loving these papers!).

I finished off the card with a bow and button. My sister should receive it in the mail today, so I hope she likes it. Shhh... don't tell her, but I have a matching scrapbook page in the works...

Copics used:

Challenges participated in with this card:
Stamp Something - girly
Paper Jewels - cute & girly
CRAFT Challenge - Mother's day / flowers
Sassy Designs - lilac & aqua
Lexi's Creations - anything goes
Creative Card Crew - celebrations
Allsorts - mom
Simon Says - Mother's Day / girly
Papertake - buttons, bows, brads & bling
Totally Gorjuss - It's for you mom

Thanks for stopping by!

CHA Relay, Day 2 - Charlotte

Today is Day 2 of the Greeting Farm CHA relay. The image provided for today's challenge is the oh, so stylish, Charlotte. Isn't she fabulous?

Charlotte was colored with copic markers, and cut out for layering on pop-dots. I added Stardust Stickles to her belt, and colored her belt buckle and a line of eyeshadow with a Sakura Stardust pen.

The matching flower was made by cutting out the pink dot paper with 3 of the Nestability Peony dies, sponging the edges with SU Going Gray ink, and then crumpling them up a bit before layering them together. For the finishing touch, I went around the edges of each petal with Stardust Stickles, and also used it on the black brad in the center.

Thanks for stopping by!

CHA Relay, Day 1 - Mer Ian

The Greeting Farm is have a week-long relay (details here) to celebrate CHA, and I thought it would be fun to play along. If you participate, each day you receive an exclusive digi image to play with. How exciting is that? I decided that I would use the images to create a note card set, complete with holder. So be sure to check back each day to see the latest note card, and then this weekend for the complete set with holder.

Today's image is Mer Ian, and he is such a cutie! I colored Ian with copic markers, and then cut him out for layering. The fun swirl paper is by Pink Petticoat, and I ran the bottom layer through my Cuttlebug with the D'vine Swirl folder to match. Once all of the layers were together, I applied Diamond and Patina Stickles to his tail for a little bit of sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Love you to the Moon...

Back when we were first dating, my husband gave me a book on the moon for my birthday. It's filled with gorgeous photos, but the very best part about it is the inscription he wrote inside the front cover: "I'll love you to the moon and back." There was more to it than that, of course, but that was the phrase that stuck in my head.

  

When I saw ching chou kuik's Red Hearts by Sweet Pea Stamps, it immediately made me think of that book, so I decided to use it on a Valentine's Day card for my husband.

The image was colored with copic markers as usual. I wanted to do something a bit different for the background, so I randomly scribbled on color with a R81 and my custom pale YR21* (I have two of these - this one was the darker of the two). I then used my custom pale R81* and custom super pale YR21* to blend the darker shades together. After I was finished with that, I dotted the whole thing with the copic colorless blender pen to give it an interesting texture. Note that you don't have to be too precise when coloring because the clolorless blender pen hides any less than perfect areas. I really like the effect, so don't be surprised if you see it again with different color combinations.

I always get asked about my custom markers, so I did a color comparision swatch for you so you can see the difference between the original copic color and my custom blends.

 

*The formula's for my custom pale markers are as follows:

pale YR21: 5cc's blender fluid + 80 drops YR21 refill

super pale YR21: 5cc's blender fluid + 30 drops YR21 refill

pale R81: 5cc's blender fluid + 35 drops R81 refill

Challenges participated in with this card:

Charisma Cardz #3 - fruity colors (raspberry, banana, and blueberry)

Crafty Creations #51 - Valentine's or Love

Creative Card Crew #43 - punch it (Martha Stewart Lace Heart punch)

Midnight Madness #37 - sketch (MMSC37)

A Spoonful of Sugar #87 - Lots of Layering

Copic Buzz Weekend Technique #1 - using your blender pen to create texture

Simon Says Stamp - punch it! (Martha Stewart Lace Heart punch)

Thanks for stopping by!

Funny Somethings...

Happy Friday! Are you ready for another challenge with Stamp Something? This week we are challenging you to stamp something funny or something that makes you giggle in honor of our sponsor, Sunshine and Giggles Stamps.

For my card, I used the adorable "Molly in a box" stamp by Wild Rose Studio. This image makes me giggle because it reminds me of my kitty, Emmalee. Emmalee LOVES boxes. It doesn't matter what kind of box it is, she's all over it. She gets so excited when we get packages, because it means she gets a new BOX!!!! to play in.

Looking cute in PawPaw's box from a class project...

 

 

All tuckered out after "helping" open holiday gifts...

 

And the ever undignified, "I know there's a mousie in here somewhere!!!" LOL! Yes, Emmalee loves her boxes!

Molly in a box is supposed to be a Christmas image, but she's so cute, I couldn't leave her on a shelf for most of the year. To make her into a birthday kitty, I added the party hat and mouse from the SU set "Here, Kitty Kitty" and the balloons are a Studio G stamp (stamped repeatedly). All of the images were colored with copic markers, and have sparkle added with a Sakura Stardust pen (LOVE that pen!).

Copic Markers used:

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to head on over to the Stamp Something challenge blog for some giggles from the rest of the design team!

Sketch Challenge with Stamp Something

Happy Friday! Are you ready for another challenge with Stamp Something? This week's challenge is to make a project based on the above sketch. You can do anything you like, just so long as the sketch is still recognizable. This week, we are being sponsored by Wags 'n Whiskers Stamps.  They have generously donated not only the prize for one lucky participant in this weeks challenge, but also provided the design team with stamps to work with. If you haven't checked them out yet, be sure to do so soon. Their stamps are adorable!

I was so excited when I saw that I got Ryan's Chocolate Trouble to work with! Isn't he a cutie? My nephew's name is Ryan, and I imagine he'll look like this in a year or two. He's not quite 1 1/2 years old right now, and he's already off to a good start. We had my family down for the holidays, and I had a little bowl of those yummy Hershey Kisses with the cherry flavored centers sitting on the coffee table for people to snack on. My brother gave Ryan one, and the little stinker quickly figured out how to open the wrappers on his own so he could have more! Needless to say, I had to move the bowl out of his reach, but it was awfully cute to watch while it lasted! Anyway, as soon as I saw the image, I knew I would have to use it to make a Valentine's Day card for my brother & his family. I'm sure they will get a good chuckle over it.

Ryan's Chocolate Trouble was colored with Copic markers, and I went over the wrappers with a Sakura Stardust pen for a bit of shimmer. I stamped an extra set of the empty wrappers to scatter at his feet. I guess Ryan has been a very naughty boy, eating all those chocolates!

The frilly heart background is a Nestability die that I got for my birthday and am just now finally using. After cutting out the heart, I stamped the sentiment, and then ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder for a little texture.

Copic Markers used:

Thanks for stopping by!

Whimsical Swirls...

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! The hubby and I decided to stay home this year instead of rushing here and there like usual, and it made for a very relaxing holiday. I even got in some crafting time while Hubby was busy playing the new Wii game Santa left under the tree for him.

While playing on PCP recently, I noticed a banner ad for Sweet Pea Stamps and had to go check them out. Anyone who knows me, knows I am crazy about cats, so as soon as I saw ching-chou kuik's Purple Woods stamp, it just had to go in my shopping cart. Isn't it lovely?

For today's card, I used the sketch from Whimsical Wednesdays for my layout, and also played along with the Charisma Cards Challenge (anything BUT Christmas), the Crafty Creations Challenge (no rules), the Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge (Sparkle, Baby!), and the Creative Crew Card Challenge (anything goes). Be sure to stop by and check them out!

The pretty blue paper I used is part of the Pink Petticoat Elegant Swirls digital paper collection. I embossed the white card stock with the Cuttlebug "Birds & Swirls" folder to match. The gemstones were originally clear, but I colored them with a BG78 copic so they would stand out more. I just love how versatile copics are!

I colored the image with copic markers, and then used a chocolate Atyou Spica pen to add highlights to her hair. I decided I wanted a lot of shimmer on this image to go with the fantasy feel, so I also used a Sakura Stardust pen on her dress and eyeshadow, and then finished it off with some Stickles on kitty's wings and on the leaves. You can see the glitter better in the above photo. I don't know about you, but glitter never wants to photograph well for me, at least not without washing out the rest of the project.

Copic markers used:

Thanks for stopping by!

Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Woo. This is the last Christmas card I needed to make to finish off my holiday card list this year! I'm so excited to finish with my cards... because that means it is time to start baking Christmas cookies! Mmmm...

For my card today, I decided to play along with the Mo's Digital Pencil challenge for this week- using only white on your card (other than on the image, of course).  I chose Door with Wreath for my image, and colored it in with copic markers. The family this card is going to has a blue house, so the blue around the door is supposed to be their siding. The wreath was covered with Flower Soft in Christmas Green and Shamrock Green, and has "berries" made from pearls that I colored with a R29 copic.

 

For the "snow," I made a custom blend of Twinklets and SU Dazzlin' Diamonds in a spare container for an extra sparkly effect, and attached it to the card with a bit of Zig 2 Way Glue. I know the photo doesn't do it justice, but trust me, if you saw this card in person, the snow sparkles like crazy!

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

2 challenges, and some exciting news...

I received some good news this week - I'll be a member of the Stamp Something design team starting in January! How exciting is that?!? Denise and Erin always have fun challenges each week, and I'm honored to be joining such a talented group of ladies!

Now on to the project... For my card today, I decided to play along with the Stamp Something challenge (a card with a Winter Wonderland theme), as well as to use this week's sketch from Friday Sketchers.

I'm just about finished with my holiday cards, but needed something special for one of my officemates. She's the outdoorsy type, so I thought Fishing Penguin by Elzybells would be perfect for her card. Isn't he a cutie? The image was colored with Copic markers, and then I added Twinklet's for the icey pond. The top layer of the punched snowflakes is also covered with Twinklets for some extra sparkle.

I was in such a rush to get this card photographed so I could get it ready to send that I forgot to take a picture of the Copics I used. My apologies. If you scroll down to the previous post, the colors are identical, except I added B91 for the water and E57 for the fishing poll.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gift set...

Today I thought I would show you the gift set I made for a dear friend. She loves penguins, so I used Penguin Snowflakes by Elzybells for the image on the card and on the ornament.

Both images were colored with Copic markers, and then had Twinklets applied to the snowflakes and the ground for a nice wintery feel. (Have I mentioned my Twinklets addiction? LOL!) For the card, I decided to try my hand at an easel card (great photo instructions can be found here).

I know you are supposed to put a brad or some such in the middle to hold the card in place, but the three layers of card stock I used on the base seemed to work just as well. 

For the ornament, I used the same papers as I used on the card to decorate one of those little party favor tins by Wilton. I used them for a baby shower last year, and have a ton of them leftover, so I'm glad to finally find a use for them! 

I used a nestabilities circle die to cut out the image, added a bit of Elmer's glue to the inside bottom of the tin, and then smooshed the image in place. Once it was dry, I added some more Twinklets to the container to turn it into a shaker. Before I put the lid on, I added a line of Elmer's around the edge to hold it in place. The outside was covered with a stripe of designer paper, and then the front and back were decorated with more Nestie cut-outs.

My project does quadruple duty today, as I played along with the Elzybell's challenge 33 (making a gift), the Create4fun challenge (making an easel card), the Stampstacular Sunday challenge (not using red or green), and the Colour Create challenge (using purple, aqua, black and white).

Copic markers used:

InStyle Stamps guest designer call

It's time for the monthly Club Anime sketch challenge with InStyle Stamps, and this month, a spot on the guest design team for January and February is up for grabs! If you'd like to play along, head over to the Club Anime blog to check out all the details and get the sketch.

For my card, I took a break from all the holiday cards I've been working on lately to make a birthday card for a friend. I used Ava Sitting, one of my all time favorite images from InStyle Stamps, as the main image for my card.  Ava was colored with copic markers, and then I used Pearl Ex with Future Floor Wax to color in her wings. I just love the effect this gives you, and the way the floor wax seals in the Pearl Ex so it doesn't get all over everything. You can find a tutorial here if you aren't familiar with the technique.

Don't forget, you can save 5% off of your purchase at InStyle Stamps by following this link. Happy Shopping!

Fairy Christmas...a color challenge

 

With only 35 days left until Christmas, I've really got to get cracking on my holiday cards. I get tired of using red and green on all my cards, so when I saw this weeks Digital Tuesday Challenge was to make a card using white, purple and silver (or gold), I thought it would be perfect for a non-traditional card.

My sister-in-law loves snowglobes, so I knew Christmas Fairy Holly by Mo's Digital Pencil would be perfect for a card for her family this year. Isn't she sweet?

Holly was colored with copic markers, and then I went over her wings and the bells on her sash with a Sakura Stardust pen for a bit of sparkle and silvery sheen. I dotted a bit more on the ruffle of her skirt for a little more oompfh.

For my snowflake accent, I punch 2 snowflakes out of vellum. I used my V95 copic to color the largest snowflake to make it stand out against the white background, and then covered both snowflakes with Twinklets (are you sick of hearing about them yet? LOL!). I just love how they sparkle!

Copics used:

Happy Birthday Paul!

When I saw this delectable image, Western Heat, by Victoria Case Art Designs, I knew it would be perfect for a birthday card for my friend, Paul.


I colored Western Heat with copic markers, and then used a silver spica pen and a sakura stardust gelly roll pen on the belt buckle for a little metallic sparkle. Paul is a simple and clean kind of guy, so I kept my embellishments to a minimum with just a few brads and an embossed layer for a little "oomph". On the inside, I used the computer to print "May all your birthday wishes come true." I know mine would if this guy showed up on my door step! LOL!

Copics used:

ISS Blog Hop - Set the Table

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps! If you didn't come here from Lysa's blog, then you might want to go to the InStyle Stamps blog to start the hop so you don't miss any of the great projects the dt has in store for you!

Since Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, this month our theme is "Set the Table". And as usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

For my project, I decided to use the adorable new Anime images, Virginia and William. Aren't they just the cutest little pilgrims?

Around here, "Setting the table" during the holidays always includes a pretty container of seasonal flowers. I decided that my pot of mums needed a little dressing up, so after coloring Virginia and William with my copic markers, I cut them out and used glue dots to attach them to a pair of chop sticks I had laying around (unused, honest!).

The mums came in one of those plain jane green plastic pots, so I rummaged through my collection of decorative pots and found this great tin basket. I added some green ribbon around it, and then used my nestabilities to make a cute flower for the sentiment.

The flower is very simple to make. Just use a scalloped circle nestie in a size to coordinate with your center circle, and snip in each scallop toward the center to make your "petals". The sentiment is computer-generated using one of my favorite fonts, Kayleigh. (Download it for free here.)

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On to the Blog Hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, hop through the design team’s blogs, (leaving a comment at each stop, of course!) and then go to the InStyle Stamps blog and vote for the designer who's project inspired you the most. (You're going to vote for me, right? LOL!) Then, in order to be entered into the drawing to win the grand prize, leave us a comment on that post.

I'm the last stop on your hop today, so now you'll want to go back to the InStyle Stamps blog to vote and enter the hop contest.

Thanks for playing along with us today!

Happy Boss's Day!

Happy Boss's Day! Did you remember? I have to admit that my co-workers and I completely dropped the ball on this one. Ok, not completely. I did hear a commercial about it on the radio on the way home from work last night, so I at least had time to make a card for my supervisor.

At my office, we have a cabinet that is kept well-stocked with hot chocolate and several varieties of teas and coffees. Pretty much the first thing everyone does each morning is make something hot to drink (preferably accompanied by something to munch on), so I thought that AM Sweet Tooth by Mo's Digital Pencil would be perfect for the card for my supervisor.

I colored the image with copic markers, and then used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen (I think it is stardust) on the spoon and the trim on the mug and plate. I used white Foam Paint by DecoArt (in the fabric paint isle at your local Michael's/AC Moore) for the whipped cream. Once it dries, it has this wonderful "wet" sheen to it. The image needed a little "sweetening", so I added Twinklets onto the cookie and the foam to add a little "sugar".

Copics used:

Club Anime Color Challenge

It's time for another Color Challenge on Club Anime, and Virginia chose this yummy bedding as our inspiration piece this month:


Here's my take on the challenge:


Meet "Snowman Chic." Isn't she a cutie? She'll be available soon in the InStyle Stamps store, so keep an eye out! Snowman Chic was colored with copic markers (see photo at bottom) and then had SU Dazzlin' Diamonds added to the snowman for some sparkle.


I used Twinklets again on my vellum snowflake embellishment- told you I was addicted to the stuff! - but this time I experimented a bit by adding SU Dazzlin' Diamonds glitter on top of the Twinklets. You have GOT to try this - it is so sparkly and pretty! The photo just doesn't do it justice!

Now what are you waiting for? Go create something and then post a link on the Club Anime blog for a chance to win a great prize package. Not a member of Club Anime yet? Go here for info on how you can join.

Copics used:

Thanks for stopping by!

Whiff of Joy Challenge 50

I've really been in the mood to make holiday cards this weekend, so when I saw the Whiff of Joy sketch challenge, I knew it was the perfect excuse to pull out Lizzie with Muff.


Isn't she sweet? Lizzie was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with copic markers. I went over the swirls on her outfit with a Sakura gelly roll pen, and then added fun flock to her muff, collar, and the pom poms on her boots. For the finishing touch, I added Twinklets to make "snow" around her feet.


For my accents, I made more Twinklet-covered snowflakes. This time, I used vellum for the bottom layer. Isn't it pretty? I like the effect you get with the vellum, so expect to see more of these in the future.

The pretty designer paper is "Falling Flakes" and "Snowflake Stripe" by My Mind's Eye.


By request, here are the copics I used to color Lizzie. The BG72p is a custom mix. The BG70 family is one of my favorites, and it annoyed me that there wasn't a nice light BG70 to use for blending. To make a BG72p for yourself, combine 5cc's of blender fluid with 80 drops of BG72 refill, and then fill an empty copic marker.

Thanks for stopping by!