Agnes

One of the adorable stamps that I've gotten recently was Agnes, which is a Ketto stamp by Stamping Bella (sorry, I can't link directly to the actual stamp, just to the Ketto page. *sigh*).  I haven't had much time (or mojo!) lately, but I needed a quick & cute card to send to someone special.  Agnes was my first choice! :)

I also used a premade card by Doodlebug designs.  These are tri-fold cards, plain on the front and inside but with a pattern on the folded portion.  Did that make sense?  Found these at Archivers last time I was there and loved the bright, bold colors.
As you can see, after coloring Agnes with Copic markers, I cut her out and adhered her so that she shows through the window.  I used some really nice paper from Xpedx to stamp and color her on (it actually *is* wonderful for Copic blending) but I didn't take into account how THICK the paper was!  Oy, what a mess to try and cut this image out.  If you compare the original image to what I ended up with you'll see that I clipped some parts off - I just couldn't face anymore fussy cutting! :D
Here is a shot of the interior.  I just *had* to use this hysterical sentiment!  It says: "If you can't be a good example, be a dire warning."  It's PERFECT for the person that I sent it to!
You can slightly see the doodles I did on the pattern - nothing too obvious, but there is some VersaMarker and Spica pen in areas.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with my mojo intact.  Although I seem to be interested in things other than cards right now - bought myself a small art journal, we'll see what happens!
Thanks for dropping by!

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!

SSC April blog hop!

It's time for the SSC blog hop! :)This is the inaugural hop, click here to go to SSC (another lovely site to join with lots of fun things going on). Our challenge this month was to create a card with the theme of the season you're in. (for me, it's spring... for others, not so much!)
I had an entire map of what I wanted to do, the stamps (digi & rubber) picked out AND my paper chosen before I even went to my table. I ended up using the stamps and paper - but the map just went by the roadside! See? I can't even handle my *own* sketches! :D
I am fairly pleased with how this card came out, even though it only looks minimally like my intended card. I *love* my new rubber from Stamping Bella - this is Gertie from the Lulu collection (you have to scroll down a bit). (On a side note, shipping was fairly priced even though they came from Canada and my order shipped pretty fast too!)
Gertie was stamped with Black Onyx VersaFine several times on white card stock. I colored her face, arms, legs & the very top of her dress with Copic markers. The skirt was stamped on a light blue paper and touched up with Copic and Spica markers. After cutting out different portions of each image, I adhered them all down to the base image. I've used this technique before here and here (Level Up from Technique Junkies) and it still surprises me with a very subtle dimension that looks awesome in person. It is, however, a lot of fussy cutting - especially when you don't think about cutting the springy curls before you get started!
The butterflies in her hair were colored with Perfect Pearls and Spica pens. The rest of the butterflies (MS punch on Kioshi paper) were colored with a mix of Perfect Pearls, Spica, Distress Stickles and Distress Stain (Broken China on the blue ones). The flowers were also cut from some Kioshi paper and embellished with Spica and PP.
The sentiment was a freebie download from Gingerloft that I retyped in a different font using PSE. The sentiment was cut with Nesties, swiped with Broken China Distress Stain and spritzed with Ranger's Perfect Pearl mist. Once dry, I edged it with Chipped Sapphire DI and used my Xyron to adhere it to the base (a very shimmery white).
The final touch were the 'beads' around the edge. I measured in from the edges with a clear ruler and marked the holes with a piercing tool. After erasing my lines, I went around the edge with my Glossy Accents and made little clear beads. Unfortunately, doing it by hand means they aren't all the same size - but the clear ones I had were *way* too big! This gives you control over the size... mostly! ;)
You can get a hint of how shimmery this card is IRL in this close up. Between the Perfect Pearls, the Spica pens, the Distress Stickles and the Perfect Pearl spray - well, this card is *alive* in person! :D
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!

Long time no blog...

Although I've been *really* busy! :)
The boy had his fifth birthday - which required much house cleaning (how does it get that dirty??) and food prep. We had decided to do his birthday party on Saturday so that more people could attend - which was also his (FAVORITE!) cousin's birthday too.
In the midst of all this madness, I decided to make my very first easel card. Oy. That was NOT a smart choice! Don't get me wrong - it was much easier to build than I thought it would be. On the other hand, if you've never made one before, a circle easel card is not the place to start! :D
I started with this cute fairy image from Mo Manning printed on white card stock. I colored her with a mix of Copics, Spica pens & Sakura glitter pens. The dotty background technique is something I need to work on, but it looks OK here. It needs more contrast, I think.
I cut out the image and both layering panels with nesties. Both the image panel and the next (pink) layer were popped up with dimensionals. I used a gray Copic marker on the bottom purple layer so it would stand out against the base (and did the same to the base layer at the very end).
The base card (white, but not very visible here) was cut out of super thick card stock with my Curvy Cutter. This was difficult to say the least - cutting through *two* layers of thick c/s was not easy and left some pretty ragged edges. I think this particular card would've worked MUCH better with a thinner base card.
The purple layer on the bottom was stamped with the Hero Arts dots background (versamark) then stamped with the sentiment (colorbox) before adding the butterfly (MS punch). To keep the butterfly popped up I used a little glossy accents underneath the top set of wings (did that make sense?). Once dry (it stays dimensional) I added a little more to the bottom wings and the glue 'bumps' and held it down until it adhered. This lets you add as much dimension as you'd like - even in very tight spaces - and still lets you pop things up at an angle (which is tough with dimensionals).
The worst part of the experience was trying to get everything aligned on the circle! The ribbon was the most difficult, although the fold on the base piece was nearly as challenging. I'd recommend doing either a square or rectangle the first time. Actually, I believe that I *will* do one of those next time! :)
Thanks for dropping by!

I tried another challenge...

But somehow managed to fail at the very last moment! :D First, I should say that I joined yet another group - SSC. Which brings me up to five. *sigh* I like some of the things that they're doing over there - really it's newer than something like SCS so it seems to be easier to do things. Anyway, I joined and found a challenge that was to use only one stamp on your card. Surely I could do that!
Hmpf.
I pulled out Maribel (one of the most gorgeous stamps EVAH!) and started creating. Apparently she's been sitting long enough that there were some issues. Not sure exactly what the problem is - my technique? The rubber? Suffice to say that I had the devil of a time getting a clear image - this was the best of the lot.
I stamped her using Walnut Stain Distress Ink on glossy paper (it was the only brown ink I had that worked with the dp) then lightly colored it with Milled Lavender and finally buffed it with a coat of white chalk ink. I attached that layer to a piece of the dp (it's the reverse of the brown & blue stripe) with curled edges.
The base started with a lovely dark brown card. I layered a piece of the dp, then layered a piece of brown punched paper over that. I cut some flourishes (QuickCutz) using my Cuttlebug from the same brown as the base and attached them to the stamped layer. That's when I realized that I really wanted some shimmer! :D
Ranger just came out with a new set of Perfect Pearls (Cafe) and I couldn't resist the brown. So, using a water brush I painted the brown PP on the flourishes and the punched piece. Planning ahead would've made this a lot simpler!
The little flowers were kind of creamy yellow, but that was fixed with a little Milled Lavender and white chalk ink too. Some half pearls and I thought I was done... oh, right up until I *had* to paint some of the cream color PP on the flower centers! *lol* (and then I realized AFTER I took & edited this picture that one of the pearls fell off! grrr)
Once everything was dry and adhered together I realized that I needed a little something more in the bottom right. This, of course, is when I completely forgot that I was only supposed to use ONE stamp! Sure enough, I stamped the sentiment in Walnut Stain & dusted it with more PP. THEN I remembered why it wasn't supposed to be there! ;D
Oh, well! It was just lovely to play with Maribel anyway!
Thanks for dropping by!