Charcoal look

Just a quick post tonight while I'm still awake! :) While I was spending time (oodles of time!) over on Pintrest I saw something that really caught my eye. It was a video tutorial about using a black and a white pencil over kraft paper with OMS to mimic the look of a charcoal drawing. How awesome is that? So, I looked through my file of digis (printed some time ago) and decided that Poppy from Crafts and Me would be perfect to try this out. I think I got a little heavy handed, but practice will make me better at it (this was my first attempt). Don't be afraid to try it!

So after I colored her according to the video I cut her out with a nestie using the Out of the Box method I linked to in the last post.  Since the square die wasn't working well I trimmed off two of the sides to make it fit better and added the sentiment stamp to balance the right side.  This was layered over two pieces of black card stock that was punched with a Martha Stewart punch then over another nestie shape (a TJ technique) colored with Distress Ink.
The final layer isn't a layer at all - actually it's a line drawn in black pen with black pencil right up next to it that I blended outward with OMS to give it depth.  After rounding the corners and adding some white ribbon it was ready to go. :)
I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving filled with the best food, friends & family, and thankfulness that defines your day together!
Thanks for dropping by!

Still with the low mojo

Ugh.  Do you run into 'down' times?  You know, where you don't even want to face all your stuff?  I think about it, but then I just don't get in there and create very often. *sigh*  Of course I've also run into problems with my signature here and on my email.  They've both been upgraded recently - all the hard work I did to figure it out the first time has come to nothing!  Grrrr.  I think I've got this one fixed, but Yahoo is a whole 'nother story.  What a time sucker! (Not to mention that I joined Pintrest - which is an *excellent* way to avoid getting my craft on!)
Anyhow.  Enough grumbles.
I've had this digi from Crafts and Me printed for a few weeks.  Actually, I have a bunch printed (why waste an entire sheet of paper on one image, right?) that are just waiting for some coloring.  I'm pretty sure the ink is dry by now! :)  I didn't really know where I was going on this, it just fell together at the end.

I colored the image with Copic markers and filled in the glass dome with Glossy Accents and some iridescent glitter.  The green vines/leaves were cut from two different dies and fitted around the panel.  The ribbon was actually dyed with reinkers some time ago - sorry I don't know exactly what they were anymore.  I masked the area above the punched edge (Martha, of course) and stamped/embossed in clear.  The final touch was some little pink gems.
All in all, it's fairly simple.  I do like the finished card - especially since I usually struggle with pink!
Thanks for dropping by!

The next easel card!

Like I said I would last time - I made another easel card! :) This time I took the easy way out and did a rectangular card base... much, much easier! Unfortunately, the pictures really don't do it justice. *sigh*
Here you can see just the front panel. Isn't that a lovely image from Crafts and Me? The Sara Burrier images are gorgeous! (and they just released another that I'm dying for!)
I colored her with Copic markers and a Spica pen. If you look really closely you can just barely make out a blue outline around her - she isn't just floating in all that white space, promise! :) Once I had the panel cut and the corners rounded I added a little Glossy Accents to the bubbles and around the edge of the panel (which was then dusted with a really light blue glitter). That panel was then mounted on an awesome piece of dark blue/green/purple paper then mounted on shimmery white card stock. The shell and beads were from my stash, as was the silver embroidery thread.
Here you can get an idea of what I used on the base as a stopper. I really wanted to use a set of pearls that I had - but they weren't the right color (too creamy on a *white* base). Anyway, I used some blue Dew Drops, a couple of clear drops (floral dept at Mike's), a couple of flat backed pearls and some tiny drops of Glossy Accents. Hopefully it looks like jewels at the bottom of the ocean. :)
I didn't include a sentiment yet, mostly because I have no idea of who this will go to/what it will be for. There's plenty of space at the bottom to add it later, which is (I think) the beauty of this kind of card!
Thanks for dropping by!