Granny rider!

Have I mentioned that I love Mo Manning?:D
We had the first of our area stamping shows recently - this is one of the gems that I picked up while I was there.  This particular stamp is an actual stamp (polymer) from Stampavie called Mummu's Bike, although you can also get it as a digital image in Mo's shop.  Isn't she awesome? :)

(as always, click for a larger view)

Other than the coloring, you can see that this card is fairly simple.  After coloring the image with Copics I cut it out with a large oval nestie, then matted it with a piece of white paper (that was spritzed with pearl mist from Ranger).  The background paper is from Basic Grey and the punched piece is a dark grey-brown done with a Martha Stewart punch.  A little white satin ribbon and a bow completed the card.  I should mention *how* I tied that bow - a VERY HELPFUL video tutorial on YouTube by Jak Heath which rocked my world! :)  It's just like using a Bow Easy - but with your fingers.  You don't get much cheaper than that!
Funny story about why I haven't posted in so long.  I also bought some really cute Stamping Bella stamps & spent a bunch of time coloring one until it was *perfect*.  Before I could cut it out and make a card, the cat (which we've only had 6 weeks or so) was up on my table and managed to knock down a bunch of ink pads (from nearly 3 feet up) onto my table.  Of course the lids fell off.  Of course they landed ink down... right on top of my *perfect* image!  All that was left to do was laugh! ;P  Turkey cat!
Thanks for dropping by!

Phases

Do you find that you go through phases with your stamping style?  Not necessarily major differences, but perhaps types of images (and coloring methods) that you gravitate toward in stages. I've been moving toward coloring images with pens and pencils and away from a looser interpretation with color washes and collage-y type elements.  I wonder if I'm the only one?
Don't get me wrong, I've always *appreciated* a gorgeously illustrated and colored image.  But I was never very good at coloring, shading, highlighting - in other words, making it look good! ;)  Now that I'm (much) older I really appreciate the time and effort that it takes to learn how to do it well.  I only wish that I'd gotten started sooner and had more time to practice.
This card is the reason why I ask!  I feel like I've breached a wall, made it into that 'zone' where colors come together the way they're supposed to! :)
(As always, click for a larger view.)

Unfortunately (as ever) the picture really doesn't do this card justice.  She (ching-chou kuik's Serenity) looks pale and, umm, uninteresting here.  IRL she is quite lovely - with the most delicate shading I've ever managed.  This lovely lady is actually a mermaid, but I wasn't feeling very mermaid-ish so I used a circle Nestie to cut out the main portion of the image.
The base of the card was cut from thick black card stock, then embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  I dabbed on two colors of green and rust Opalite ink (remember those?? LOVE 'em!) for a little extra color.  The shimmery gold card stock wasn't exactly the right color - so after cutting it with a Nestie, I ran a Copic around the outside edge to make it match her robe better.
The vines were, ummm, interesting! ;)  These were all cut from black paper using one corner vine die from Cuttlebug.  I think I used six?  Maybe seven.  Either way, once they were all cut out I snipped them apart and arranged them around the main image panel.  Trying to get them arranged in a pleasing way took a *very* long time.  Well over an hour - and it's not that big!  In hindsight, I should have dabbed the vines with Opalite ink *before* adhering them down, but I didn't.  I was just extra careful not to get ink all over!
Serenity was colored with a multitude of Copic markers and a variety of other goodies. :)  There is a hint of Pearl colored Perfect Pearl spray painted on where the light from the candle shines.  There are touches of green smooch on her robe (which show up as black in this pic)(*sigh*).  There is quite a bit of gold, yellow and tan Spica marker around the gold edges of her robe.  Some Glimmer Mist along the leaves and vines surrounding the moon and a little dab of Glossy Accents wherever there were beads in the image (hair, necklace, earrings, etc).  Here's a little better side view:

Thanks so much for dropping by!