Moonlight Inker

2009-07-27T09:27:00.002-04:00

So I am still warming up with regards to my cards. I feel still a bit like I am not quite up to snuff. Oh well, it will come. I had this image sitting around all ready colored. I figured it was time to use it. The image is Hanglar and is colored in with reinkers and Twinkling H2O's. I used the Just Right vertical stamper to create the word on the side. My flourishes are from Quickutz dies and the flowers are punches. I used a Martha Stewart lacy punch for the trim and some leftover brown polka dot ribbon to make the bow. All the stamped flourishes are from some Memory Box stamps. This is just a fast post and I hope to keep adding regularly.

High Hopes card and update

2009-07-25T16:25:00.006-04:00

Amazing I know I am actually posting! I think this time I am actually ready to begin slowly easing into this blog. There is so much that I have been trying to do and still have to do. For instance this blog is in some serious need of revamping not to mention my life lol.
Well today's card is a High Hopes card with a bit of Quickutz thrown in . I love these bug stamps that High Hopes came out with a while ago. I have been using them for a bit, but have not had time to post them before they had to be sent out. I really like the different elements of the card. I have been branching out into different areas of crafting and am starting to include allot of die cuts in my designs. This card and envelope are cut with Sizzix XL Bigz dies. The image is colored on Fabriano Hot Press watercolor paper, and I used Distress inks and some Twinkling H2O's to color it in.

The inside uses some Quickutz dies for lettering, flowers, bug and file folder. The other side is a spot for the message using Spellbinders deckle rectangle die. The envelope is Sizzix. Paper is Blush from Prisme(darkest).

I hope you enjoyed today's project and I should have another one soon. My plan is to post every 2-4 days until things are more stable.

I'm Back with a Blog Hop from Sugar Nellie

2009-06-19T01:22:00.005-04:00

I am finally back, and posting! I thought I might never get to this point lol, but I think I have finally reached the point when I can start posting sporadically. I do a bit of surfing while I am nursing my new almost 3 month old son. It is the only time that I have to just sit and relax. I've been keeping up with every ones blog's but have never been that great at posting comments with only one hand lol. So I happened one day upon Sugar Nellies Blog when they were offering the chance to participate in a Blog Hop featuring their new artist Diane Duda. She is a phenomenal artist who features some truly unique pieces. I was thrilled to try one of her new stamps. They are whimsical and versatile. I was trying in these cards to create a totally different look from what I normally do. The first card is supposed to be the dark and light side found in all of us. The picture is not great because it is late and my lighting is terrible. I will try to re- do the photo's tomorrow. The second card is a gorgeous deep purple which sadly I have not yet captured but hope to do so tomorrow. It is created with Derwent Inktense. I love how rich these watercolor pencils are. Check out the next blog in the hop so that you can see some more fantastic artwork. Karen's Cards is next in the list, have fun.

Blog Candy Winner

2008-07-27T21:27:00.002-04:00

Ackk! Time flies. I am so sorry to have taken so long. I have not been feeling up to anything lately. Hee, hee, finally found out why.....we are finally expecting our third child. Won't be due for a long while yet, but am certainly feeling the effects right now. So I will post the winner today, get the package out as soon as I get their address, and will post a project as soon as I feel up to stamping.
The winner is number 101:
lehtipollo said...
Howdy! What a great card. I love your style of colouring.
4:36 PM

Congratulations. I wish everyone could have won. I do thank everyone for participating and look forward to the next time that I can offer something up.
Cheers,
Sophie

Summer and Sea and Blog Candy!!

2008-07-22T01:18:00.002-04:00

Eek!! I feel like I lost my mojo with my vacation from stamping. This is my warm-up DT card lol. I used Edwin's Town stamp for the buildings, The moon from the Goblin collection, and the boy from the Summer and Sea collection. Images are colored with Faber Castel, Prismacolor, OMS, Twinkling H2O's and a touch of Copic's for the hearts and windows. Paper is all from the Magnolia Store. Embellishment is Robin's nest Dew Drops. Stickles and Atyou glitter pens. Now for the fun part :)
Magnolia has very generously offered some wonderful Blog Candy for one lucky winner! There are two lovely Tilda's from their most recent release. There is also the picnic blanket for Tilda to sit on, a fence and a stitch for embellishment. Also included are some Flowers, rhinestones and some DP and a card base. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I will be drawing on Friday when I get back from Ottawa. Oh ya, I just got back and I have to run off again for a few days. My hubby has some appointments for lenses and to see a couple more family members before he leaves. We are doing alot of running around trying to find stuff that he needs to take with him. So have a great rest of week and will be back with the winner on Friday!
Hugs,
Soph

My Daughter's Birthday Card

2008-07-19T21:51:00.004-04:00

Well, I am back and have been since Tuesday. It has been a mad rush to get my house up to scratch, to the groceries, evict the unknown remains which were attempting to crawl out of the refrigerator and prepare for my Friday night Stamper's Club. Phew! I just had time to stamp out a card today for my daughter's Birthday. We are celebrating a bit early ( it is August 2nd ) since she will be away at camp for it. I had to make her a special card that was perfect for my Prima Dona. She is now a very grown up 9 :) .
Recipe:
Stamps: High Hopes horse and lady, Rosie's Roadshow star
Paper: American Traditional Designs in Celebrate (DP), SU Soft Sky, So Saffron, Rose Red CS, Stamper's Select White
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Marigold Morning, Pacific Blue,
Other: Old Olive Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Prisma color and Faber and Castel color pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Stickles, white acrylic paint, Jessie James glitter dots

I just love these images from High Hopes. They are so whimsical and fun. I based the colors on the wonderful options given in the DP Which I got from Phebe at the Town Scrapper. She has the coolest stuff in stock, and it is always shipped fast and with a smile. I colored the image with color pencil and OMS and then highlighted with Gamsol. Hopes you like :) . I am off to work on a Magnolia DT card so Cheerio!!
Hugs,
Sophie

On Vacation

2008-06-28T23:01:00.002-04:00

Just a quick not to let everyone know that I am not at home, and will not be till July 15th. I am spending time with family and friends and did not bring most of my stuff. Hope you all have a Fab. vacation.
Hugs,
Sophie

DT card, first attempt

2008-06-23T22:50:00.003-04:00

This is my first attempt at a Pop-up card. So be gentle. This most certainly is not perfect. I have still not perfected the whole method. So I will be practicing till I get it right! This is from the new Summer and Sea collection.
Images were all stamped on Fabriano Artistico 140lbs Bright white, hot press watercolor paper. They are colored with Caran D'ache Supracolor pencils, Distress ink's and Twinkling H2O's. Card stock and DP is all from Magnolia's shop. Acetate was used to hold pieces in place. Background panel was hand drawn and a corner of Magnolia Cattails was added. Clouds and sun(High Hopes sun) were popped up with 3-D dots. I am back to the drawing board to improve my design.
Hugs,
Sophie

Ok, I added a cattail here in order to hide the acetate better. The problem was that I inserted it to high in the Background.

So Sorry.

2008-06-18T22:16:00.004-04:00

People will honestly start thinking I am hopeless. I am afraid that my erratic posting will last until probably September. Let me explain. I have a BIG project that I am working on and that is my craft priority for the time being. Still can't say what, but hopefully by September or so I can say. Second my husband's vacation is through the month of July so we will be away a huge portion of the time. August he goes back to work and then beginning of September he leaves for 7 months to Afghanistan. So needless to say, my family is my top priority for this summer. This tour thankfully will be his last as a front line soldier. As soon as he gets back, he has a month off and then leaves for 4 months to do a course for a new trade in the Military. This is very exciting for us since he will have done his duty in the front line and can go into a less stressful position. That means that while he is away, I will be preparing our house to go on the market. We will be moving as soon as he finishes his course and gets his posting. So there is a lot of stuff happening in the next year. I will be erratic in posting, but will be doing my best.

OK so now no one can say that I am being lazy in regards to my Blog. On to my Card. This is a DT card from the new Summer and Sea collection from Magnolia. It is amazing. There is so much that you can do with it. I am so in love with every piece of it. In this case I wanted to capture a little boy just loafing by the edge of a pond.

Stamps: Magnolia, High Hopes Sun

Paper: Bazzill, Fabriano Artistico Cold Press 140 lbs, SU Olive, Caramel, Cool Caribbean, Memory box DP, Magnolia DP

Ink: Versamark, Distress: Tea dye, Vintage, Shabby Shutter, Pine, Broken China, Jean

Other: Tombow markers, Twinkling H2O's, Stickles, Gold embossing pwd, Cuttlebug embossing folders.

The images were all stamped on my watercolor paper with Versamark then embossed in Gold. They were colored in with Tombow markers and Twinkling H2O's. Everything was then cut out. Layers of paper were run through the Cuttlebug and then cut in varying wavy shapes. The layers were taped down, and images were glued and popped.

Thanks so much for dropping by,

Soph

Blog Candy Winner and Decorated Colour book

2008-06-14T11:45:00.003-04:00

So I have had this decorated now for a couple of days, but have also been in the midst of preparing for a scrapbook class that I gave last night. My original intention had been to post the winner last night after the class, but since we did not wrap up till close to 1:00 AM in the morning, well ...I was too tired! So without further ado ( not sure how you spell that one), using the most sophisticated method ( names written on paper in a basket, then picked by my daughter), the winner is:

Annelies said...
I'm planning on redecorating my room, and would like inspiration to create something to put on the wall (f.e. canvas). Maybe you can help? Greetings from Belgium, Annelies

So Annelies, please e-mail me your snail-mail address so that I can send this off to you.

I want to thank everyone who participated, and gave me lovely suggestions. I will do a Twinkling H2O tutorial next, and will work on some of the suggestions for following tutorials and projects.

So for the above book, recipe:

stamps: House of Mouse, SU Alphabet

Ink: SU craft Chocolate Chip, Stewart Superior in Burnt Umber

Paper: SU Afternoon Tea DP, Fabriano Artistico Hot Press water color paper, Poison Ivory Shimmer CS

Other: Watercolor pencils, Re-inkers, Twinkling H2O's, acrylic white paint, Spica glitter pens, Dew Drops, SU satin ribbon, Prima flowers, rhinestone brad.

Image was colored in layers with different mediums ( will show in next Tutorial), Letters were stamped with craft ink and embossed in clear. I then cut out letters and adhered. Everything else is easy peasy. Hopefully be back soon,

Soph

Sorta Back, and Blog Candy

2008-06-10T00:30:00.001-04:00

No I have not fallen off the face of the earth lol. But I have been a busy beaver trying to create order out of chaos. I did not want to take longer than necessary by dividing my attention between that and stamping. There was one thing that I have also worked on though in that time. And that was to create a book with all my colors, mediums and names shown. I find this is a great way to see exactly what a color looks like. I won't tell you how many hours this took me, but thankfully in the end it should save me plenty of time. This was my first attempt using my Bind It All. I was not totally successful. I find the instructions they give are not half as helpful as what is on the website. That being said, I did not think to look at the website until half way through. So there are some mistakes, but I am still happy with my results. Now i can have the fun part of decorating my book :) . The really scary thing here is that these lists do not include my reinkers . I will be doing a separate book for that!

Book cover is Cardboard covered with Afternoon Tea DP and Groovy Guava CS. Wire is decorated with SU In color ribbon and May Art ribbon.

This lists my water based markers on Fabriano Studio watercolor paper. Chart had to be done by hand because printer toner ( or whatever it is called ) does not adhere to watercolor paper. It is a mix of SU and Tombow. ( this list has 2 pages ).

Color pencil on Stampers Select White.
Twinkling H2O's on PaperTrey Stampers Select White.
Copic on Stampers Select White.
Watercolor pencil on Fabriano Studio watercolor paper. The entire book consists of 11 pages of color charts on those mediums mentioned above.

Ok now for the Blog Candy. Up for grabs are High Hopes Scotsman and his Scottish dog. And a Magnolia little girl from most recent Club kit. That is a total of 3 un-mounted stamps for one person. All you have to do is leave a comment here about what sort of projects ( other than cards) and tutorials you would like me to cover. Anyone can participate from anywhere. I will draw on Friday.( actually my daughter will draw on Friday). Must answer question in order to be placed in draw! Good Luck!

Hugs,

Sophie

Still Alive

2008-06-05T23:41:00.002-04:00

I am still here slugging away at my stuff. I am also in the midst of organizing my craft space. I am trying to do up charts of all my colors of different mediums and also to go through all my stamps and decides what is for keep and what must go. It is a long tedious process, but one which I am trying to put all my energy into so that it gets done. I will be back tomorrow with some blog candy for your patience. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will be finished and have something to post!
Hugs,
Sophie

Masking Tutorial

2008-05-31T23:42:00.006-04:00

So today is the tutorial I promised on tricky masking. I did a duck card a while ago. One of the things that is important to know how to do when using Rosies Roadshow stamps is how to mask. Know I know that masking is pretty basic for most of us, but when using a ton of accessories as is common with this line and Magnolia is that you really have to stop and think about order and little tricks to make it easier. Oh ya, and I was also asked a question about creating the blue backgrounds on my stamps.
For starters I make masks out of Eclipse paper for everything I am going to need to mask. The great thing about Eclipse paper is that it is pre-tacky and comes on a big roll. It will last forever and it saves me the time of putting the two way glue on my images. The other thing I have in hand is my Stamp-ma-jig which is essential for proper placement.

To create the duck card I started with placing the mask down in the spot where I would wanted the bath to be. Please remember that I am doing this quickly and am not aiming for perfect placement right now. If you notice, I have cut up a section at the back of the bath so that the bath line will not run through my duck.

Using the Stamp-ma-jig I stamp my duck and shower head.
I remove the bathtub mask and then place a mask over the duck and shower head. make sure the duck and shower mask do not go below the front bath tub line. If you prefer not to cut your duck short, then let the mask sit normal and fill in the lines after you stamp the bathtub. That is what I did so that I could keep my mask complete.
Bathtub is stamped.
I remove my mask and you see the empty spot where the masks were.

I then fill in the lines with my Faber Castell Pitt Pen.

I replace the bathtub mat and and stamp the rug.
Here is the finished piece. It is actually quite fast to do when the masks are all cut out. ( yes I know I did a bad job stamping the rug, I was doing it fast).
Next I hand draw the little hearts. If I had a heart stamp I would use my stampa-ma-jig to stamp them.
Ok, for the background color I use Twinkling H2O's. I pick the colors I want and using my waterbrush and a quick circular motion I pick my points to add and spread color. Usually I go into the V areas and then blend the colors out. You could also use watercolor or re-inkers to do this. If you are not using watercolor paper then please remember to not overdo the water.

I then move in with my darker color and again look for the natural V's to add in a darker shade for more depth. Hope this helps.

Hugs,

Sophie

DT Magnolia

2008-05-31T00:52:00.002-04:00

Tonight is another fast post because I just finished my second Stamper's Club and I am pretty tired. This card was finished yesterday, but I have not been able to post till now. I wanted to create something a little different. I wanted my Tilda to be a beautiful brown with dark hair.....like me. I am half Mexican, and wanted her to reflect some of my own heritage. ( my other half is Hungarian). The background panel was created using the images from the Magnolia Goblin line. Tilda is from the most rescent release of their Lilac line. This has such beautiful woodland accessories. I wanted it to look like she was walking through a forest. Tilda was stamped on water color paper, and colored with Caran D'ache watercolor pencils, Twinkling H2O's and Radiant pearls. Back panel was stamped with PTI Stampers select white and colored with Copic Markers and Twinkling H2O's. Paper, CS and flowers are all from Magnolia's web shop. Oh and if you have not heard the news, Magnolia's new forum has opened. Keep checking it out to see upcoming events and information.

DT Lilac Angel

2008-05-27T23:18:00.002-04:00

Just a quick posting today. I decided to use the Magnolia Lilac Angel which is one of my favorite from the newest release! She is just beautiful with her bouquet of Lilac's. There is a matching lilac stamp ( as seen in card below). All images are Magnolia, sentiment is Papertrey and Ink ( Green Thumb), Paper, ribbon and Prima are all from the Magnolia shop. Tag is cut with Spellbinder tag dies, Image was stamped on PTI select white and colored with Copic's. Sorry for the short post, but am super busy!
Hugs,
Sophie

Magnolia DT

2008-05-22T11:54:00.002-04:00

I saw this card on Anita's Blog, and was totally blown away!! I wanted so much to try something like it. I did not quite succeed, but still like it anyhow. Eventually I will get it down pat!
recipe:
stamps: Magnolia, SU sentiment
Ink: Versamark, Stewart Superior Burnt Umber
Paper: Bazzill, DP from Magnolia's shop, Fabriano, Vellum CS
Other: Watercolor pencils, Radiant Pearls, Twinkling H2O's, ATC glitter, Spica Glitter pen, May Art ribbon, Nestability circle.
to start, I layered my DP on my Brown CS and cut a circle with the nestability. Then I placed it on the pink CS and drew in the circle and then cut that out with the nestability. I stamped all the images and colored them in. For a fantastic tutorial on coloring with watercolor pencils and Twinkling H2O's, check out Katharina's Blog tutorial. Next I stamped the girl in the centre of the piece of vellum CS ( using Versamark) and embossed her with SU glitter embossing pwd. Then I placed the vellum between the brown and pink CS and adhered it. The circle colored girl was placed below. Flowers and sentiment were adhered to frame it and little spirals of paper were added here and there. Hole was punched through vellum and ribbon run through and tied, and glitter was added to the centre of the apple blossoms.
Have a great day,
Hugs,
Sophie

Rakle Stamps

2008-05-20T17:27:00.003-04:00

Wow, now this is exciting!! I just got these amazing images from Phebe at Town Scrapper, and let me tell you, I am blown away! This particular image really attracted me because it is so totally boy, with no feminine aspects. The stamp company is Rakle, and I think they are from Norway. The rubber that they are on is really deeply etched and high quality. They come EZ mounted in beautiful packaging. since I was a bit tired of making cards, I thought it would be fun to decorate something that I use. This is a mini Clipboard that I got at the dollar store. It is 6" x 9". I wanted to have a teen boy feel, a nice change from all the girly that I love doing. I did some doodling on the paper ( which is stamped) to look like a bored teens notebook page ( everything but the work he was supposed to be doing), and the Key was sketched and thrown on to show just the sort of stuff you might find in his pocket.

recipe:
Stamps: Rakle Skater boy, CHF lined paper, SU Genuine Article, My own key
Paper: Basic Grey Dp, Fabriano watercolor paper, Whisper White
Ink: Stewart Superior Black, Distress in: Marigold, Marmalade, Vitage, Tea Dye, Walnut Soot, Pine, Shabby Shutter, Jean, China
Other: Bind it All, mix of ribbon, Radiant Pearls, Rangers blue Cloud Acrylic Paint, Mod Podge

Image was colored with Distress Ink and then enhanced with Radiant Pearls. Note paper was stamped with SU Turquoise and then put through the bind it all to give the look of having been ripped out. Next the other side was cut with my Create-A-Cut and given that torn look. Distress Ink in Walnut, Tea Dye, and Soot was spread around to show wear and lack of care. Doodling was added. Key was sketched on watercolor paper, lines drawn over with Faber Pitt pen in Umber and then colored in with watercolor pencils and Radiant Pearls. all images were cut out, and the whole item was painted and adhered. Thanks so much for coming by, and have a wonderful Tuesday!!
Hugs,
Sophie

Magnolia DT-- Warning!

2008-05-18T22:21:00.002-04:00

Warning: doing the vellum cut-out will cause squinting and twitches in the eyes, cramping of the fingers, and a strain on your time and patience!!

That being said, I don't know why I get these bright ideas late at night. I wanted to use the beautiful Magnolia flower bundle as a focal point in a card. That's when I decided it would look nice as a medallion in the centre of the card. Well my bright idea took me several hours into the night. It probably did not help that I was watching movies on the movie channel at the same time. For some odd reason it takes me longer to stamp when there is a good movie on.
recipe:
stamps: Magnolia, SU Beautiful blooms
Ink: Stewart Superior Burnt Umber, Distress in Tea dye, Lipstick, white Memories ink
Paper: CS vellum, PTI stampers select, Bazzill, SU Chocolate Chip,DP paper from Magnolia
Other: Copic Markers, Tombow markers, Twinkling H2O's, Lemon and Diamond stickles, SU gold cord, circle nestability.
Ok, for starters I layered the DP on to the brown CS. I then used the circle Nestability to cut the circle. Then I placed the cut out circle on the vellum in the centre and drew my circle. I took the Magnolia flower bundle stamp and stamped it out in a rotating pattern with white memory dye ink. I made sure that no images overlapped, but sometimes touched. I then lay it out on my cutting mat, and with my exacto knife, I cut out tiny piece by tiny piece. I did not try to take out to big a piece at once since the vellum can be fragile, and I did not want to damage my image. Once it was all cut out in the circle, I colored it in on the backside of the white lines with my marker, using the brown to depict the branches of Magnolia tree. Once it was dry I adhered it to the back of my DP/cs layer, and then adhered it to the card base. Twinkling H2O's was used to create the shadow of blue to act as a backdrop. Tilda was stamped on the PTI CS and colored with my copic markers. Her wings were stickled as were the lines of her magnolia blossom and the medallion blossoms. Holes were punched in the CS of the card and cord tied around on both sides. Thanks so much for coming by to peek.
Hugs,
Sophie

DT Magnolia

2008-05-16T23:33:00.003-04:00

Yay, yesterday my DT package arrived from Magnolia!! Now I know that you have probably been wondering what on earth happened with my Magnolia cards lately. Actually, we in Canada accidentally got overlooked for the Shabby Chic release. So I was quite excited when the most recent package arrived. If you go over to the Magnolia shop, you will see the latest Club release and Lilac Magnolia! This is one of the images from 2 releases ago, but it is the first chance I had to use it. Flowers, images and most of the paper is from the Magnolia shop! So today I decided to participate in the Friday's Sketchers. Today's sketch is brought by Magnolia DT member Beatrix.

recipe:

stamps: Magnolia, SU Fancy Flexible Phrases

Ink: Stewart Superior Burnt umber, Distress in Tea dye and Shabby Shutter

Paper: Bazzill, Magnolia shop paper, SU Certainly Celery DP, SU Eggplant cs, Fabriano

Other: reinkers, Radiant pearls, Twinkling H2O's, Prima Flowers, Dollar store rhinestone brads, Velvet ribbon, Nestabilities.

Now I know that I promised a tricky masking tutorial, and I promise it is coming. Just give me a wee bit more time. Got a nasty cold along with the kids and have been dragging my feet all week. Honest to goodness it is just one thing after another!

Hugs,

Sophie

Little bits of everything!

2008-05-13T22:21:00.002-04:00

Wow, the days just fly by! There is lots going on here. We over here in Petawawa have entered that wonderful period of Spring Cleaning!! Twice a year the trucks will go by and pick up all the large bits of junk that we want to get rid of. It also the time that people go around checking to see what everyone is getting rid of. Sometimes, by the time the truck comes by there is nothing left to pick up. You know what they say...." one man's junk is another man's treasure!". Also I just picked up a baby trailer for the back of my bike. Now this is exciting because that means I can take my fellow with me wherever I want to go. I have come to the conclusion that the less money I give to the gas companies, the happier I will be.
So some new to share, I have decided to step down from my DT position at CCdesign. As you know I have been hinting at a project that I am working on. It is big, I am excited, and I won't be able to share for a few more months. Now I love working with CCdesigns, and I love the fantastic images that Christine comes out with every month. Sadly I don't feel that I can give my all at this time. There is to much on my plate, and I am trying to bring things down to a manageable level. So wish me luck and I hope you will be as excited as me when I can finally say what I have been up to!
OK, so next I have this card that I made over the course of a few days. The image has been stamped and colored since this weekend, and I just placed unto the card today. I usually have a store of pre-colored images that I like to do in my odd minutes of the day. The images are all from Rosie's Roadshow. All I can say is FUN ! I love how you can use them in an infinite amount of scenes. the sky is the limit with these images! I showed the images that I used down below to show you how every image is individual, and it is up to you to mix and match.
recipe:
stamps: Rosies Roadshow, Norsk Stempelblad ClearStamps
ink: Stewart Superior Burn Umber, Soft Sky, River Rock, Old Olive, Mustard, Tea Dye, Vintage
Paper: SU Marigold Morning, Soft Sky, Fabriano watercolor paper, Chatterbox DP
Other: Stamp-ma-jig, Eclypse paper, Prima flowers, EK Retro flower, dollar store brads, stickles, re-inkers, Twinkling H2O's, Radiant Pearls.

I started with coming up stamping my images on Eclipse paper and cutting out for the masks. Image was decided upon and then stamped using stamp-ma-jig. I colored image using watercolor brushes and re-inkers, then intensified the colors with Twinkling H2O's and Radiant Pearls ( originally made by same company as H2O's, and not made any more but I have left over). Stickles was added to the hearts. The image is so shimmery and lovely, and it is too bad that the camera can't truly capture how it looks. Stay tuned for my next posting when I go through the steps of masking. It is a little more complicated then standard masking.
Hugs,
Sophie

Shhhh.......It's a secret!

2008-05-09T23:29:00.002-04:00

Well, I am going to tell you a little secret about myself. I love simple cards! There it is. Don't get me wrong, I love the large cards with layers and DP and all that fun stuff. But sometimes, I miss the time when the image was the focal point. One of the things that I love about Rosies Roadshow is that you can create an adorable scene that can be the focal point of your card. I hope you can bear with me as I amuse myself with the simple for a little while!
recipe:
Stamps: Rosie's Roadshow, Norsk Stempelblad Clear Stamps
Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid in Burnt Umber
Paper: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron DP, Fabriano Artistico
Other: Prima Flowers, Sky ribbon, Copper brads, White Gel pen, reinkers and Twinkling H2O's for coloring.
Frame was stamped and then using the stamp-ma-jig I created the scene. A couple lemons in the basket were popped up, and the basket was popped up. Sentiment hand scribbled ( my writing is not worth beans lol)
Hugs,
Sophie

Glam Girls

2008-05-07T23:41:00.002-04:00

If you have not seen them already then I strongly urge you to check them out! This image is part of the most recent release from CCdesigns. Isn't she cute? And isn't she just perfect for those of us who have budding Diva's in our family lol. She reminds me of my daughter when she dresses up in her sequence and rhinestone play clothing! All supplies can be found at CCdesigns, except for the watercolor paper, watercolor pencils and twinkling H2O's.

recipe:

stamps: CCdesigns Glam Girlz

ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid in Burn Umber, Distress in Spiced Marmalade and Vintage

Paper: Bazzill CS and the DP can be found at CCdesign, I'm just not sure what line.

Other: Caran d'ache watercolor pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Spellbinder tag die, Jessie James glitter dots, rhinestone, Crystal effects, May Art ribbon, CCdesign flowers, Create a cut was used for scallop edge.

Image was colored on Fabriano Hot Press 140 lbs Artistico paper. The twinkling H2O's were used to enhance the watercolor pencils. Crystal effects was used to make the glasses appear real, and ultra fine glitter was lightly sprinkled on top. Everything else is super easy!!

Hugs

Sophie

Not my fault!!

2008-05-06T12:41:00.003-04:00

I can honesty say that it is not my fault that I have not posted or been around lately. Last week saw me with the mother of all tooth aches. I spent my week grouchy, and on T3's trying to lessen the pain and spending most of my time on the couch. I had no desire to stamp or surf or anything. Needless to say I am getting a root canal on a tooth! How on earth at my age I managed that I have no idea. I have gone all this time without serious issues only to get this. Then I went away for the weekend and came back to a problematic computer. How on earth do you leave for a weekend with everything running fine, and come back to a computer where everything is going wrong? My card reader is dead, my computer almost did not start, my Internet was haywire. And go figure my husband who is my resident computer expert ( I am the resident computer moron) is gone for the month. So I was fiddling for 4 hours trying to get things up and running. You know the drill, sit and carefully read all the options, and click the one that seems it will do the least damage. When all else fails kick! Oh well something worked because I am up and running, with a wacky Internet, and a dead card reader. Direct from camera for me *sigh*. Anyways, now that I have that off my chest, this is my card from a while ago since at the moment I have nothing better to show. But tonight I will present you with something. Images are Hanglar, and sentiment SU. Card is from a Splitcoast challenge awhile ago.
Hugs,
Sophie

CCdesign sneak peak and step by step

2008-04-27T23:59:00.010-04:00

This is a sneak peak of one of the upcoming sets from CCdesigns at all that scraps. I thought it would be fun to show the step by step of creating this little scene. I was perusing today Zindorf's blog. She does so many awesome tutorials. I only discovered her blog today and spent a couple of hours going through a big portion of her entries. After going throug it, I thought it would be fun to create a scene with these awesome stamps!
recipe:
Stamps: CCdesigns A Hootin Good Time and polka dot BG, SU Two step stampin Watercolor minis, SU Fancy Flexible Phrases
Ink: SU : True Thyme, Old Olive, Wasabi, Basic Brown, Bayou, Caribbean, Night of Navy, River Rock. Ranger Distress : Mustard, Soot, Marigold, Shabby Shutter, Brushed Corduroy, Walnut, Pine, Broken China. Ranger Adirondacks: Cloudy Blue. Versamark, Stewart Superior Burnt Umber.
Paper: Bazzill, Old Olive, unknown DP from All That Scraps, Whisper White.
Other: Copic markers, May Art satin ribbon, White gel pen, Dew Drops, copper brads, clear embossing pwd., rhinestones, stickles, Glimmer mist in Olive, sponges.

The Ciao markers are: E51, E31, Y21, YR04, E71,YR23
I start by tearing up the white paper into the shape of a hill and taped it down with tacky tape. I start off with the SU greens and brown and my Brayer. Once my area is masked I stamp a flower with Versamark and clear emboss. Then I begin by braying River Rock. I accidentally started with the wrong brayer. This one was too hard!

Next I brayer some Wasabi and Olive. I spread a bit with the sponge too.
Last I go through with the True Thyme and the Brown to deepen it at the base!

Once my hills basic form is done, I use my other half of the torn piece to mask my hills.

Next I brayer through the Cloud and Caribbean.
Bayou is sponged and brayered.
I go through with Nigh of Navy, and Bayou, using the sponge to blend edges and the brayer to get the edges. I also punch a circle with my 1 3/8 " circle punch. I mask a piece for the moon.
Over here I open every green and brown and black that I have and start adding more definition with sponges and the Watercolor mini stamps.

I remove my moon mask and use the opposite piece to mask the surrounding area and sponge my moon with Mustard and Dried Marigold.

I remover the moon mask and sponge white craft ink for a mistiness.
I stamp my tree trunk and color with my Copic Markers. I also at this time stamp two of the owls and color them in and cut them out.
I decide where I want to place my images and adhere them down with glue.
I add in white highlights with my gel pen, rhinestones for the owls eyes ( the one in the hole) and stickles to the beak and feet. I also put my whole card together.

I hope you enjoy this step by step. I thought it would be kinda fun to see the steps. I may not be posting for a couple days ( project to work on), so I thought I would leave you with something more detailed then I have lately. Hubby is gone again for a month so My posting will be somewhat erratic!

Hugs,

Sophie

Magnolia DT card- Ismaki sketch

2008-04-27T11:42:00.004-04:00

This card is designed from an older sketch of Ismaki. I sadly can't post the sketch, because every time I try to upload it, my Internet freezes and shuts down. So you will just have to check it out on her site! This card is designed for the arrival of a new and perfect baby boy.
stamps: Magnolia, SU Riveting, SU Define you Life
Paper: Bazzill CS, SU Pumpkin pie for flourishes, Magnolia DP which was sent to me, Poison Ivory shimmer paper, SU Whisper White
Ink: Stewart Superior Burnt Umber
Other: Quickutz flourishes 4 x 4 die, Prima Flowers, Jessie James glitter dot, Spellbinder Nestability rectangle and scallop rectangle, Spellbinder tag die, Copic Markers, ABS 1, Ultra fine glitter for wings, Dazzling Diamonds for greeting center, Spica glitter pens in yellow and orange.
Everything is pretty self explanatory, but don't hesitate to e-mail any questions you might have!
Hugs,
Sophie

CCdesigns

2008-04-24T00:49:00.002-04:00

This is going to be a fast post. I just want to leave you with something to look at. Both cards are made with the new releases from CCdesigns. The stamps are fun and whimsical, and great for coloring in. The top card is colored with Prisamcolor, and the bottom one is embossed with gold and colored in with tombow markers and a waterbrush.

hugs,

Sophie

From my Oasis to yours

2008-04-21T02:15:00.002-04:00

Well, this is just going to be a quick post! I have been working hard on another project of sorts that I can't talk about right now. I probably will not be talking about if for awhile, but it's quite exciting. So for this card I have used High Hope stamps. I wanted to create a little desert scene for this adorable camel. Everything about it is quite simple, i am relying more on the images then on embellishments.
stamps: High Hopes
Ink: Stewart Superior, white craft, Distress Broken China, Scattered Straw, Vintage Brown, Spiced Marmalade
Paper: Summer Sun, Chocolate, Caribbean, Mustard, Saffron, Papertrey white
Other: Faber-Castel and Prismacolor pencils, OMS, Twinkling H2O's, White paint, Stickles, AIG glitter, Spritzer tool and brown marker from SU

Paper was hand torn to form sand, Images were stamped, colored and cut out. Sand dunes were inked and spritzed to form sand, scene was put together.
Hugs,
Sophie

Magnolia DT card - Ila's Sketch

2008-04-16T16:39:00.002-04:00

I love Ila's Sketch Challenge for Blog Candy! It was such an awesome layout, and let me concentrate on the coloring and accessories instead of how to present it.

stamps: Magnolia berries, leaves, tulip BG, Tilda and birds, High Hopes sun, SU Embrace life sentiment.

Ink: Versamark pad, brown Stewart Superior

Paper: Magnolia paper from their shop, Fabriano Cold Press, Fabriano Hot Press, Basic Grey DP

Other: Tombow Markers, Twinkling H2O's, Gold embossing Pwd, White acrylic paint, Spellbinder nestabilities square scallop and regular, spellbinder tag die, Prima flowers, dew drops, lace trim, decorative trimmer.

Image of Tilda, Sun and berries was stamped with Versamark and embossed with gold pwd. , then colored in using Tombow markers and water brush. Twinkling H2O's were used to highlight. Background was colored with twinkling H2O's. White acrylic paint was used for the dotting. Everything else was easy assembly. Sewing machine was used to add stitching down the sides and hold the ribbon in place.

I am so happy with how this turned out and can't wait to get to work on the next one!!

Hugs,

Sophie

SC171

2008-04-13T00:16:00.006-04:00

This will be a fast post! I just finished up a stamp class and am a bit tired. I made this card for The Sketch Challenge this week. My springboard was Ila's card from the challenge. I loved how she stamped her background paper....well ok, I loved everything about it. I looked at hers and came up with him.

recipe:

stamps: High Hopes images, Papertrey sentiment

Paper: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Chatterbox DP, whisper white, Old Olive.

Ink: Ranger distress: broken china, SU Old Olive and Basic Black

Other: Faber-Castel and Prismacolor color pencils, OMS, Twinkling H2O's.

Next I would like to thank: Beate

Monica from Mad Stamper

MichellO from stamp,paper,scissors and donkey smiles

Kirsten from Confessions of a Naptime Stamper

Lainy from Lainy's Little Blog

Neeta from Papirrommet

for the nomination of the Pico Award

and Nikki from Bunny-Zoe's Blog

for the You Cheer me Up Award.

I feel very honored that these ladies would think of me for it. They are all themselves very talented ladies. I am now supposed to nominate 5 others. So I shall pick:

DT Tilda and Roses

2008-04-12T00:02:00.004-04:00

I'm back again. I have been so busy this week, and have also been spending a lot of time playing with my sketch book. I'm coming up with lots of little sketches for fun. But I could not resist playing a little with these new Magnolias. I wanted to keep everything very simple. The roses are so pretty that they don't need any help to stand out in this card. All images are stamped on water color paper and colored using re-inkers. The sentiment is from Stampin Up Happy Harmony and it suits the simple beauty of these images.

The second card is a 4 x 4 . It is a simple design that I was playing with. For myself, I am personally used to doing more realistic drawings. Often what I will do for practice is draw the image realistically and then start removing lines and simplifying other lines. One of the things that makes a drawing cartoon like is the human elements that we can put in. It is a case of practice will eventually make perfect. The image lines are a little fatter than I would have liked, but sadly I grabbed the pen that was a size larger than what I wanted and didn't notice till the first stroke was down.

stamps: Sentiment from Papertrey

Paper: Soft Sky, Celery, Celery DP, Old Olive DP, PaperTrey stampers select white.

Ink: Distress in Broken China, Shabby Shutter, Basic Black

Other: Copic Multiliner pens, Faber-Castel and Prismacolor pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Copic Markers, SU Soft Sky ribbon, Nestabilities.

Your invited to a Birthday Bash!

2008-04-10T01:58:00.005-04:00

ETA:To those of you who were very kind and polite to e-mail me privately about the spelling mistake I thank you. It was very late and I was still feeling quite sick and had not been paying proper attention to what I was doing. I have not yet had the chance to fix it, but will do so as soon as I can.
This is an odd little fellow I admit. He represents my more twisted side. In the fairy world you have your beautiful fairies, sprites and pixies, and then on the flip side you have your goblins, imps etc. This *handsome* fellow is a goblin. He is not the brightest fellow, nor the fastest. He lacks grace and beauty. He is also full of trouble and mischief. He can exist on insects, berries and small animals, but is not above catching a pixie if given half a chance. Over here he is looking all innocent as he hides a club behind his back. The inside sentiment reads " To a Birthday Bash "
Image is colored with color pencils, OMS, Twinkling H2O's. Other items used are Nestability, Quickutz leaves, SU chunky glitter, Atyou Spica glitter pens, stickles, computer generated sentiment. I will next I hope post a Magnolia card, or some of the Inchies I've been playing with.
Hugs,
Sophie

CCdesigns- It's my Birthday! SC170

2008-04-07T23:07:00.003-04:00

Wow, this weekend has been brutal. Everyone is running through a cold cycle. My daughter was home last week sick, and then my son over the weekend, with me getting hit on Saturday evening. I hate being sick and am normally an absolute troll when forced to endure it. Probably stems from the fact that as a mom, we have to carry on without the sympathy *sigh*. At any rate, I wanted to thank all you lovely ladies who left comments on my Blog. I really appreciate all the positive feedback that I received on my sketch. It certainly is a dream of mine to eventually design stamps, but as to when and where, well, its in the Lord's hands.

This weekend I managed to get another card done with some of these fantastic CCdesign new Releases. This particular set is called " It's my Birthday". It is such a cute set too. I decided to use SC170 from Splitcoast since I needed something more exciting then my standard layout's. What a Godsend those layouts are for the stumped of mind.

Stamps: CCDesigns.

Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid ink in burnt Umber, Ranger Distress ink in : Vintage and Red Brick,

Paper: Brown, Red cs and SU DP

Other: Paper piercer, re-inkers to watercolor, Twinkling H2O's to accent, May Art ribbon, Spellbinder tag die, rhinestone brad.

I'm off to bed in the hopes of being better tomorrow.

hugs,

Sophie

Personal sketch - Holly

2008-04-05T02:06:00.004-04:00

Today, I spent a lot of time working on my sketching. I have a bunch of designs which I have named Woodland Creatures. I love the style of Magnolia, Hanglar and Sugar Nellie. I wanted to do my own variation, but with one of my favorite subjects....fairies. I love outdoor/ nature images. Pair that with fairies which are fantastical creatures of magic and nature. This particular girl is named Holly. I have her sitting on a mushroomed hill.

Stamps: none, my own personal design

Ink: Copic multiliner pen, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen, Distress ink in : China Blue, Pine Needle, Broken China, Shabby Shutter, Tea dye, Vintage.

Paper: River Rock, Real Red, Old Olive DP, Papertrey stampers select white.

Other: Copic Markers, Prisma and Faber-Castell color pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Spica Glitter pens, Stickles, May Art ribbon, copper brads, Prima flowers, Quickutz leaves and mushroom accent and swirls, Dew Drops, rhinestone brads.

I did my sketch on the Papertrey cs then outlined it in black and erased the pencil lines. Image was then colored. Accents were cut out on Cuttlebug and then card was put together.

have a great Saturday,

Hugs,

Sophie

Cleaning sucks, I'd rather be stamping!

2008-04-03T23:52:00.003-04:00

Now who can't relate to that sentiment? CCdesigns new set Cleaning Queenie is adorable, and so fun to color! The sentiment cleaning sucks is something anyone can relate to unless you are one of those sick people who actually enjoy it lol ( I have known them).

Stamps: CCdesign

Paper:Bazzill, Prisme, S.E.I DP, CCdesign White CS,

Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid in Black, Distress ink in Tea dye, China Blue, Vintage, Shabby Shutter.

other: Copic markers, buttons, Prima flowers, Tag, Dew Drops, Jessie James glitter dots, Stickles, Atyou spica glitter pen in gold and clear, white acrylic paint, Nestability's, SEI buttons

The image was colored in Copic Markers, then highlighted with Spica glitter pen. Image was then cut with nestability and embossed. After I masked image with paper and rectangle with nestability and using a soft brush added China and Shabby Shutter . Tag was stamped with cleaning brush, colored with copic markers, distressed with tea dye and Vintage ink and then clear Spica was added to handle and Clear Stickles to brush part. Everything else is simple assembly! All products can be found at All That Scraps!

XXX

Sophie

Hey Chicky

2008-04-03T00:59:00.002-04:00

Well I was meaning to post yesterday, but a call came from Sears that our new entertainment unit had arrived. This was a very exciting prospect as my 2 year old son has made it his mission in life to destroy all our electronics and dump all my books on the heads of unsuspecting guests who enter the door. This unit means that everything is now up high and locked up. YAY!! The downside.....How you pay so much money for a piece of furniture only to have it say some assembly required. Some assembly meant all assembly. My poor husband got it home and the two of us ( mostly him with me helping in the passing and occassional lifting) put it together. Then I spent until two in the morning cleaning up the room, breaking down boxes and organizing everything unto the unit. It looks awesome. Needless to say it was to late to post!
This card is from one of the new upcoming sets from CCdesigns. It is absolutely adorable with 4 different chicks! There are a whole bunch of other sets joining this release along with another great background.
Recipe:
Stamps: CCdesigns
Paper: Basic Grey Two Scoops DP, SU Celery, Barely Banana, CCdesigns white CS
Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid Ink Pad in Burn Umber, Distress ink in Spiced Marmalade, Red Brick, Lipstick.
Other: Spellbinder Nestabilities, Cuttlebug flower dies, May Art Brown satin ribbon, Cuttlebug dots embossing folder, Spellbinder tag die, mettalic rub-on, Copic Markers, Faber and Castel color pencils, Twinkling H2O's, White acrylic paint, Spica glitter pen, Stickles in Fruit Punch, Dew Drops.

All supplies except SU CS and Faber pencils, Tag die available at All That Scraps. Flower was cut out from Cuttlebug flowers using Basic Grey Dp and then distressed with scissors, distress ink and embossing tool. Stickles were added to edges. Everything else is self explanatory.
Have a great day,
Hugs,
Sophie

My bad!

2008-04-01T00:13:00.004-04:00

I know, I know, I despair of ever being a regular poster! I do have good excuses though! I had stamper's Club on Thursday and Friday and was to pooped to stamp after. Also on Friday I had both DT packages arrive with some awesome rubber and stuff, so over the weekend I have bin simultaneously working on multiple projects. Finally I will have some fun stuff to share. Today's card was totally inspired by a card made by a very talented lady: Anita Hagen. Her card is here. I just love the artistry and work which goes into every one of her projects!

Stamps: Magnolia ( girl in apron and stars )

Ink: Stewart Superior Burnt Umber, Distress ink in Spiced Marmalade and Tea Dye.

Paper: Bazzill, Very Vanilla, Cosmo Cricket DP, Daisy D's DP, Paper Trey stampers select white, SU Pumpkin and Close to Cocoa

Other: Copic Markers, Faber & Castel and Prismacolor pencils, Twinkling H2O's, May Art ribbon, Quickutz dies ( envelope and swirls ), Prima flowers, Jessie James glitter dots, gold cording, Stickles.

Everything is easy. The girl was colored with a mix of three mediums ( also stars ) . Greetings are hand written and stitched.

2008-03-26T13:22:00.003-04:00

Heya ladies,

Today's card can be found here ! and details can be found in my Splitcoast gallery!

sorry for the inconvenience,

Hugs,

Sophie

Magnolia DT card

2008-03-23T21:47:00.003-04:00

Well, I will be the first to admit that this card is not quite my regular style. It is definitely simpler on the layers then I usually use. The supplies were all sent by Magnolia. The girl is from their spring release. The card itself is Bazzill, followed by SU Pretty in Pink cs, and then an uknown DP which acts as the backdrop. I colored the girl, tree and mushrooms with Copic Markers on Paper Trey Stamper Select CS. These were cut out and set aside. The tree was then stamped on the Designer paper, and the cut out tree went on top. The leaves were colored in on the DP. Sponging was added to the backdrop. I used Distress Ink. China Blue for the middle, Lipstick for the side edges and Shabby Shutter for the top and bottom. The dragonflies were stamped on DP and colored in. Girl was adhered, and then the side decorations of mushroom and Prima flowers. The leaves were fitted in last. The sentiment is from Paper Trey, and the stamp is Cuttlebug. Lastly Stickles and Spica was used to add sparkle.

Hugs,

Sophie

Beware

2008-03-23T10:38:00.002-04:00

Sorry ladies, this is a quick post just to make you aware of something that just happened which I have never had before. In my comment section their was a very odd entry from Galmaran. It simply said look here and here with links. I thought it might be links to cards are something but as soon as I pressed, I had virus's trying to download on to my computer ( thank the Lord for security systems ). Watch out for posts of this nature! I have deleted it so no one else can click on it.

Magnolia Easter Blessings

2008-03-23T02:25:00.002-04:00

Hee, hee, can you tell I've been playing around on my computer? I have always admired Beate's photography and editing ( and of course her cards :) ), so I decided to play around and improve the look of the photo's. This is an Older Magnolia along with Magnolia flowers and banner. The paper is SU Banana CS, and Basic Grey Two Scoops DP. The ribbon is from a ribbon share with Texas Jodie Lynn, and the image is colored with Faber and Castel color pencils and OMS, Twinkling H2O's. Today is a short post because I have to get to bed. Tomorrow is Easter and family is coming over for supper. So I hope you all have a fantastic celebration either tomorrow or Monday, and I will post my next DT card tomorrow.

Hugs and God Bless,

Sophie

Inchies........so much fun!

2008-03-19T23:30:00.003-04:00

ETA: check out this link to Inchie Art . Lisa has collaborated with Ellen Hutson and Karen Lockhart to make some great products to work with Inchies. These are shown in the Link at the bottom of the post in Ellen's Store.
One of my favorite blog's to visit is Ellen Hutson. She comes up with such fantastic projects, and is just a treasure trove of tips and information. She also has an Online store full of amazing stuff. Everything she sells is well thought out, researched and tried, tested and true. Customer service is excellent, and packages are shipped quickly. She is also a carrier and representative of Lockhart stamps, which are designed by Karen Lockhart. The stamps are heavily influenced by Karen's love of cooking and gardening. On top of being so creative, Ellen Hutson is extremely skilled in the use of color pencils and Copic Markers. One of the most recent innovations which was designed by Karen Lockhart and collaborators, and presented first by Ellen, is the Inchie. A 1" x 1" square is your canvas, and the ideas for it are limitless. Large stamps can be used, as above, showcasing your favorite portion of the image. It brings a whole new dimension to your work. On top of that they are addictive. in 5-10 minutes, you can have your own little masterpiece. The challenge is using them instead of staring at them.
DANGER: You may find your self stamping an inchie when you should be doing something else due to the small time commitment. I went to have a shower while my husband was watching my particularly mischievous son. In my head I figured 15 minutes was reasonable, and proceeded to use five minutes to create the cupcake Inchie before my shower. Trust me, this pattern con't.
Recipe:
stamps: Lockhart image and sentiment
Ink: Black Hybrid, and Burnt Umber Hybrid, Distress in Tea Dye, Versamagic pretty petunia
Paper: Almost Amethyst DP, Black, Cryogenic white, Basic Black
Other: Gold Krylon marker, white gel pen, Copic Markers, Spica Glitter pens, Organdy ribbon

All of these inchies were created with Lockhart images and one SU sentiment from fancy flexible phrases. I just ordered Ellen's Gotta Have it All Inchies kit and am anxiously awaiting!!
Hugs,
Sophie

Spring Showers

2008-03-14T16:59:00.002-04:00

It was such a beautiful warm day today, that you could feel spring around the bend. What a change because we have had massive amounts of snow in the past couple of weeks. The largest was more than 2 feet of snow. The weather is crazy! Freezing cold, snow, sleet and then warm springy days when everything is melting. I wish it would make up its mind. So to represent my dissatisfaction with the state of the weather, and my longing for spring, I have used this very spring like and adorable House of Mouse stamp.

Stamps: House of Mouse, SU sentiment ( borrowed )

Paper: River Rock, Celery, Sky Blue, Real Red, Water color paper, Real Red DP

Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid Ink Pad in Burn Umber, Real Red for sponging

Other: re-inkers, Caran D'ache watercolor pencils, Spica glitter pens, Twinkling H2O's, Crystal effects, White Gel Pen, pop-up dots.

House of Mouse stamps are always so chalk full of detail, which can sometimes be difficult to capture. I started with watercolor pencils. This is a medium which offers more control than traditional watercolors, and allows me to place many layers of color in exact areas before blending. After that I went over with distress inks in areas which needed greater layers. H2O's were added for depth and sparkle, the mouse and the watering can were popped, highlights were added with white gel pen, and then some Spica pens for sparkle. Last I added crystal effects to the berries and the water puddle and droplets. Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs

Soph

Magnolia DT card and message for Malin

2008-03-14T16:58:00.002-04:00

Another quick post. I'm still at my family's and we leave tomorrow. If MALIN pops by here, please to let you know, I have tried e-mailing 2 times and am not sure if you are getting the e-mail since your computer problems started. I don't know how else to get you this message so I am using my blog.
Ok sorry about that but there is a bit of e-mail trouble and I wasn't sure if it was working yet. This is another DT card, and it uses the newer church and heart confetti Magnolia.
stamps: Magnolia
ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid in Burn Umber
Paper: Confetti Cream, Soft Sky, PaperTrey stampers select, Fabriano watercolor, Real Red DP, Bazzill and unknown DP
Other: Distress ink for watercolor, Twinkling H2O's, Prismacolor and Faber and Castel color pencils, Spica glitter pens, Stickles in Waterfall and Eucalyptus, Pop up dots, White gel pen.

The church is water colored with distress ink and Twinkling H2O's and then Spica gold accenting the door and window's and cross. Stickles accent the window's. The girl uses color pencils and H2O's highlighted with Spica and stickles. Hearts were water colored and popped. Love sentiment is a clear sticker that I got from a Papercraft magazine as a free gift.
Hugs and have a great night,
Sophie

It has been forever!!

2008-03-14T16:55:00.004-04:00

It feels like forever since I last posted. Believe it or not I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Last week after hubby came home I had a couple of days with him, and then I had a workshop on the Thursday, a stamp club on the Friday and left for March break on the Saturday. In between all that was laundry, cleaning and packing. My most pressing problem was what to pack from my stamp room. I am so not good at limiting myself to a few supplies. I kept on wishing that I had a mobile stamp room to take everything with me *sigh*. Well I don't have one. So then I was stuck bringing a measly box ( 12x12x12) of stuff. It's funny how when you are limited you suddenly have to have that item that you haven't used in ages. Well between being stampeded by six children (only 2 are mine), and cooking for 11 each evening ( I actually love cooking) I have not had much time to stamp. So finally I can say that I have 3 cards made . This is the first.
For Sketch challenge 167:
My design team card for Magnolia. I actually can't give much details on the supplies because Magnolia sends the DP and CS for the card.
stamps: Magnolia
ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid in Burnt Umber
Paper: unknown and SU vanilla, Real Red, Old Olive, watercolor paper.
Other: SU vintage brads, SU striped ribbon, SU Oval punches, Caran D'ache watercolor pencils, Twinkling H2O's.
I colored her in with my Caran D'ache watercolor pencils this time. Watercolor pencils are fun because they are easy to transport when travelling. They give beautiful color and spread really nicely. I enhanced them with Twinkling H2O's, glittered the wings, then cut them out and adhered them to the circles which were cut using a colozzle which is great for when travelling.
Oh well, gotta run.
Hugs,
Sophie

Back soon

2008-03-04T14:45:00.003-05:00

I'm a bit late with posting. Still alive, only Hubby came home Finally and we are spending time together, and I have another appointment for my son this time in the City. Also a workshop on Thursday. So hopefully Friday I will be back with something to post.
Hugs
Sophie

CC design, This hugs for you!

2008-03-01T23:19:00.002-05:00

I LOVE this set from CCDesign. It just has so much potential, and who can't love a monkey?. The inspiration for this card is from Bell Papier. I saw this card and it just floored me. I instantly knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to keep the whole card soft and airy, and then have the image like a punch of color.
recipe:
Stamps: Monkey Love and Big Ol Background in Plaid, SU stem Silhouettes
Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid in Burn Umber, Ranger Distress Ink in Linen, Broken China, faded jean and shabby shutter.
Paper: Papertrey Stamper select white ( for image), Stampin Up Whisper White ( for second circle and small matted square, Cryogenic White ( shimmer CS for floral BG), Natural Ivory ( SU for card).
Other: Prismacolor and Faber and Castel Color Pencils, OMS, Twinkling H2O's, , Caramel marker for stitching.Atyou Spica Glitter pens, Ranger liquid pearl, May Art Ribbon, Nestabilities circles and squares
Image is stamped and then flowers and grass were sketched in. Colored with color pencils first and then accented with Twinkling H2O's. Image was die cut, and every layer in card is distressed. Small Square mat is stamped with Plaid BG. Large square is stamped with stem silhouettes then sponged with blue and green, stippled with pink H2O's and then dotted with liquid pearls.
Thanks so much for stopping by
Hugs
Sophie

CCdesigns Monkey Love

2008-02-26T22:59:00.002-05:00

This month's new set from CCdesigns are amazing! They are just so darn cute, and fun! Along with the new stamp set is some awesome backgrounds. Also, if you get a chance, check out my tutorial on creating a background paper over here.
recipe:
Stamps: CCdesigns Monkey Love and polka dot BG
Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid Ink in Burnt Umber, Basic Brown, Ranger Distress in Vintage, and Broken China.
Paper: Bayou, Cocoa, Vanilla, Basic Grey ( striped) Blush DP, weathered BG created using tutorial: Here
Other: Prismacolor pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Wasabi ribbon, white gel pen, Jessie James glitter dots ( available at all that scraps ), Nestabilities, Stickles in Copper.

This next card is created using large Nestabilities circle.
Recipe:
stamps: CCdesigns Monkey Love
ink: Stewart Superior Burnt Umber
Paper: Bazzill and Arturo watercolor paper in Butter cream
Other: White gel pen, brown marker, re-inkers, Twinkling H2O's, brown grosgrain ribbon.
The cards are simple but fun. Have a great night. I won't be posting for a couple days, I have to run to the city for my daughters doctor's appointment.

Hugs,
Sophie

sketch tutorial Part 1

2008-02-25T17:06:00.011-05:00

OK, this has been a long time in coming. I really had to sit down and think about how I was going to present this. I like to play around a lot with free hand elements, I find it comes in handy when you don't quite have what you are looking for in a stamp. Or when you just want to add some visual interest. If you look at the top photo, you will see a group of tools which I often use for freehand sketching. My tools include: Those shape templates used by graphic designers which you can find in any office supply store or art store. Next, pencil, good quality erasers, Copic multiliner pen for use with copic markers, Faber and Castel Pitt Artist pen. For the artist pen you will find three colors: black, sepia and sanguine which come with 4 types of tips, the finest being the ( s ). These pens also come in a varying range of colors fitted with brush tips. They are waterproof and suitable for color pencil and orderless mineral spirits as well as water color. The last two items shown are a CD and a Palette ink pad. These are just a sample of random items that can be used to create shapes. Oh ya also a ruler which is self explanatory.

Next is just my hand holding the pen. It does not matter if I am working with pencil, ink, water color or any other medium, I always hold my instrument at a comfortable angle that I can maintain. Important points are steadiness of hand, and the ability to put light pressure or greater force.
Now this is a bit of a weird picture, but I wanted something simple to explain this next step. Everything is made up of shapes. When you learned to draw squares, triangles, circles, rectangles, cones etc.... all of these were the foundation of any other drawing. Take a look at Bob the Tomato. In #1 you see an oval, #2: rectangle, #3: rectangle, or cut off triangle, #4: circle, #5: circle, #6: cylinder #7: circle , #8: crescent or half circle.
All right, the point of Bob the tomato is to show that everything can be broken down into basic shapes. When you start, look at something and see if you can pull out its basic shapes. After you have those drawn, out, then you go into the shapes and start altering the lines. Adding some lines, taking some away, warping, and lengthening are all part of it.

What's the point of this little sketch? Well this is why I'm late on my tutorial! A friend asked me to play around with some dragon shapes for a logo. This is one of my little sketches. It's still pretty rough but essentially I started by working with basic shapes. I have a bunch more which I won't bother you with, but I'm kinda excited because its been over 10 years since I did any art work, and I decided to keep brushing up on dragon images so that I can begin a small piece for my husband. He loves fantasy images and I figure I will make him a special present while he is away. So back the the classroom ( my personal one lol), because I'm pulling out my pastels again.

Ok, back on track! Next up is the barrel image which I promised to show. I started out with a CD since I wanted a large oval shape. This CD was the perfect size to begin with.

I started out by making an oval using both sides of the CD and then cut it off at top and bottom with a straight line. Remember not to put to much pressure with your pencil because these lines will be erased later.
next come the bands which hold a barrel together. I follow the curvature of my barrel. I also round out the bottom of the barrel. Think about these things when doing round or cylindrical shapes. Curves add dimension making it stand out instead of being flat.
Next I'm creating the top part of the barrel. It is a flattened oval. Go back to your childhood when we learned how to draw perspective with houses using those angled lines. In the case of rounded shapes, you use sharper curves.

Next I just add in the lines of the wood. I go straight through the strapping lines. It does not matter because I will erase it. I start on one side first till I get to the middle area, then start on the other side meeting my first part in the middle. The middle line is done last to balance the two sides out. All the time I am trying to follow the curve of the barrel.
Now is the time to take my pen of choice ( depends on your coloring medium) . I go over all my relevant lines using a steady smooth motion. No stops and starts for this part because you want smooth and not choppy lines.
Now that the lines are done, I can erase all my pencil marks and finally add the detail and color. Now please remember that I drew this up very quickly. Sketching can be time consuming when doing new items, but the more you do, the more comfortable you will be, and eventually you will also be a little quicker.

sketch tutorial part 2

2008-02-25T17:05:00.007-05:00

So the next little sketch we will look at is grass. As you can see I did a quick freehand doodle around the edge of my paper. Don't be afraid to add little freehand touches to your work. Most people are just scared that it won't turn out. Practice on little pieces of paper till you are comfortable with adding frames to your image. All it involves is straight lines, wiggly lines and swirls and curls.
Back to the grass. My grass is simply made my using sharp upward and downward strokes of the pencil. I make my angles and the heights fairly random as you would find in real grass. Don't be worried if it does not look much like grass. Most things don't really come together until you add the color or shading.

I start by adding in my light color first, covering the whole area.
Next comes the middle shade of green. I use the same sharp upward strokes to keep that spiky end. I don't cover all my light, I leave sections free.

Next my darkest green goes on. I put the least of this shade. I also start filling in the bottom area very randomly. Brisk strokes are my preferred method for coloring with the Pitt marker.
Lastly, I might add sharp upward strokes to suggest random wayward blades of grass.

Tree:

The next image I will demonstrate is a simple tree, using only basic shapes. By using my drafting template circles, I create a simple tree using circles which are gradually getting smaller as they move up.

Once my three circles are done ( you can see that they are partially cut off, I am ready to add a rectangle trunk.

Last comes the shading which will be done in most cases with color. Start with the darkest in the shadow, and work your way into the lightest. Follow the curvature, think about which direction your light is coming from, think about where shadows will be cast. In this case I could add a shadow of the tree going from the base of the trunk out to the left. Since my light is coming down from the right hand side, my stronger shadow will be on the left.

TOPIARY:

For this simple topiary, I start out with a plain circle.

next from the centre I draw to straight lines and then a little pot at the base which would have started out as a square. Angles would be drawn from the top corners of the square down to the point that you want it to angle at.
I add a simple lip to the pot, making sure that it pushes out further from the main body of the pot. I also take my pen and follow the circle around using jerky lines. The leaves are not perfectly smooth so there is no reason for my topiary to be smooth.
Next I add little flowers ( circle centre, half circles around ), and leaves ( teardrop ).
I pen over my whole image, erase my pencil, dot and crosshatch some shadow, and then begin to color it in using dark on the left and light on the right ( light source coming from right hand side).

Again with the finish, I add dark on my shadow side and light on my light side. I also add shadow to the underside of my lip ( of pot ) because it would be casting a shadow.

I really hope this helps a little. It's not easy to translate some things into this format of tutorial. I am hoping within a year to get a digital camcorder so that I can actually do video tutorials which I think will be so much easier. Please let me know if you have any questions. I will be more than happy to answer to the best of my ability. please remember I am not in any way an expert on this subject, these are just little things that I have found helpful when I work.

Hugs,

Sophie

CCdesign, Proverbial monkeys in a barrel

2008-02-23T00:06:00.002-05:00

This will be a fast post today, but tomorrow I hope to come back with a small tutorial on how I free handed the barrel, and other tips on free handing images. It's midnight, and my last lady for stampers Club just left. We had a great time, and it was wonderful to have adults to talk too. For this card I was feeling a little silly. I used to love those monkey in a barrel games that they had as kids ( the ones with the red plastic monkeys that you hook together), and I wanted to recreate that with these adorable new monkey's from CCdesign. The only stamp used here is CCdesign monkey. The BG is faux wood technique, The barrel was free handed, the colors are Chocolate Chip, very Vanilla, and Close to Cocoa. Monkeys are colored with Copic Markers. Window is Nestabilities and sponging. A little doodling on the frame was done.

I'm so tired now that I am going to sleep.

Hugs

Sophie

Magnolia design team card 2

2008-02-21T13:10:00.002-05:00

This is my second design team card. I have a total of 5 which must be made up and then sent off for their journey to Sweden. In the meantime, I will enjoy looking at them on my desk. These are from the spring release of Magnolia. The balloons are from an older set which is available for purchase. I am not sure of which designer paper this is or color of Bazzill CS. Ribbon is unknown brand, gold cording is Stampin'Up, grass is Quickutz. Image is colored in with Copic Markers, ground and blue highlight is twinkling H2O's. Paper for images is Papertrey Stampers Select. Stickles were added to the balloons, Spica to Tilda, and white gel pen for highlights.

Hugs

Sophie

Magnolia card and Unmounted Magnolia for sale

2008-02-18T23:39:00.006-05:00

ETA: All the Magnolia's have sold, thanks to those of you who expressed an interest!
I know I've been gone for awhile. I have had family visiting for the weekend, and let me tell you, it was a treat. When your alone for periods of time, you start wanting to hear adult voices. I do things during the day to keep busy but nights can be a little to quite for my taste!! Up above I had time tonight to work on a Magnolia card. This sweet little Tilda is part of the new spring collection. The card is a 6"x 6" layout.
recipe:
stamps: Magnolia
Paper: Bazzill, and unknown DP
Ink: Hybrid Burn Umber, Distress in lipstick, tea dye, vintage, fired brick
other: Copic Marker, airbrush system, Prima flowers, buttons, Spica glitter pens, stickles, buttons, Nestability circle smooth and large scallop, white gel pen, American craft ribbon, robin's nest jewels, cuttlebug Olivia alphabet.

This is a pretty straight forward card. Images are colored with Copic markers, circles are cut with Nestabilities, dotting and stitching was performed.

Now for the stamps. These are all unmounted and untrimmed. I ended up with some doubles and am hoping to find a loving home for them. The prices are as marked. Shipping is NOT included. I will ship to Canada or United States. Payment must be made with paypal. A $2.00 Paypal fee will be added because PayPal takes large fees off when money is sent and when money is then transferred to my account. Once Payment has cleared I will send stamps immediately. If you choose to buy all the stamps together, It will be a flat rate of 76.00 CAN. Which includes shipping and PayPal fee ( although it will be standard shipping and not express). All stamps are of course in perfect condition. If you are interested, please e-mail me. You can also e-mail for shipping rates.
Oh well, gotta run, It's getting late and I have to be up early :) .
Hugs
Sophie

Questions

2008-02-12T23:07:00.004-05:00

Well tonight I am taking some time to answer some questions that have been put to me in the past. Please remember that I am not an art instructor, these are only my personal observation and things that I have learned through different endeavors.
Why do you use Distress Ink's, and how do you use them? Distress Ink's are made by Ranger. They are water based, acid free, non toxic and fade resistant. They come in 24 colors and are great for creating an aged look to a variety of surfaces. They can also like SU pads be used direct for watercolor. One of the reasons that I am often reaching for them in my projects is that a) they have a great selection and choice of color. They are all colors that seem to bring out the best in my projects without detracting from my other ink choices. b) their blend-ability. They are unparalleled for blending. SU inks are great, but sometimes they dry faster then I may want them to. If I am doing a fair bit of blending with a little bit of color, I want my ink to glide across the paper without having to go back and tap down on the ink pad. The pads are also saturated with color and pigment, and are great to dip your brush into for water coloring. They are used like any other ink pad with sponge or other ( toilet paper, saran etc.). Great Place to get it is All That Scraps.
What is AIG glitter? AIG glitter is simply Art Institute Glitter. It comes in a rainbow of colors, Comes in different sizes ( micro, fine and a chunky glass). The color are amazing, and it often adds just the perfect touch to a project. I use Stickles a lot, but I find that the glitter is big and spread out. Sometimes its nice to have a thick sugar coat effect from your glitter. Great place to get it is Frantic Stamper.
Next: What kind of Odorless Mineral Spirit do you use for the color pencils, does it have to be Gamsol? The answer to that is no it does not have to be Gamsol. The ones up above are the ones that I use and I purchase them from the Art store. Gamso is simply a brand name. I know that some people swear by Gamsol saying they have better results. I have never used it, and have not felt a lack of results because of it. Let me put it this way. I play around alot with color pencils, and have many books on the subject of color pencils, and have taken classes with people who use them, and spoken to artist who use them. None of them swear by Gamsol. All you are looking for is a solvent to break down the binders in the color pencil. They are all toxic, so be sure to use them in a ventilated area, and not to leave the bottle open on your desk as you work. I have heard of good results with baby oil, but am personally not into trying it as I am not sure what long term effect the oil would have on my paper. The solvent fumes like alcohol will dissipate.

Does it matter what kind of color pencil I use? Yes it does. If you buy a cheap color pencil you will have cheap results. What determines the cost and quality of a color pencil is the quality of the pigment used, the quantity of that pigment in the pencil, and the binders used. I use Faber and Castel as well as Prismacolor Pencils. Other top notch brands are Caran D'ache, Lyra, and Derwent ( although I'm not partial to the last as it is a bit hard for my taste, they have a softer brand out though that I have not tried). Some of the qualities that I like in these are that they are soft and creamy, and highly pigmented. If you ever noticed with Crayola how the leads are hard and scratchy, it is one of the things that prevent it from being spread well. One of the indicators of quality is price. Don't expect to get great quality for cheap prices. Expect to pay anywhere from 1.45-2.00 a pencil. Which brings me to another point, that quality pencils are usually available open stock. There is nothing wrong with buying a set ( I do) but its nice when a color runs out to buy one of the color and not a whole new set.

Questions

2008-02-12T22:37:00.005-05:00

The next question is what watercolor paper I use and why I pick it. I use Fabriano Artistico Watercolor paper both Hot Press and Cold Press. I have used others in the past, but never with the same wonderful results. I got the tip of this brand from Sweet and Sassy's Anna. Now as for the differences. Fabriano is famous throughout the world for its paper. It has been making fine papers for over seven centuries. I use the Artistico line 140 lbs paper Blocks. This weight allows you to still be able to cut out easily, but is heavy enough to resist buckling. Hot Press Watercolor paper is ultra smooth and velvety. It is perfect for detailed stamps. The color just flows on beautifully. The only thing to keep in mind is that you must work quickly with Hot Press because the color will sink in quickly. It is also less resistant to pile. In other words, the more you work an area, the more you will fray the paper. If you keep this in mind, the results will be unparalleled. The other one I use on occasion is Cold Press. Cold Press is a much rougher surface. You will see the bumps on it. It does not do well with high detail, but has other compensations. You can work an area more, and the color will stay on top and be workable for longer. I find that the cold press is also the ideal for watercolor marker work as the ink sits on top and is more movable for longer. Often if you use marker on Hot Press, by the time you recap the marker, the ink has already become almost unmovable. The best place to buy is Dick Blick. They seem to have the best price.
Next Question was about Watercolor Markers. Which ones are the best for the technique that I highlight. I have only worked with three types. Tombow, SU and Marvy. In my experience, the best were Tombow and SU with the best marks going to SU for its ability to blend and move. Tombow is by no means bad, I just find that it does not move across the paper quite as well. The difference though is minimal. The best place to get Tombow is Jerry's Artarama. They have a great price with discounts for bulk ordering. The other great place is Frantic Stamper.

Next is: What Are Twinkling H2O's? Twinkling H2O's are a sparkling water based paint. They are filled with Mica particles that make them twinkle and shine. They come in an array of colors ( my last count was 156 colors). They are used in identical fashion as watercolor paints. They last a very long time ( all mine are in the 5gm sizes) and they will dry on a variety of surface ie. wood, paper, canvas, rocks, Easter eggs to name a few. They blend very well, can be used with mixed media ( so you can add highlights to paper pencil work), and they can be used direct to rubber. They are truly a wonderful medium to work with. I purchase mine from Frantic Stamper.

2008-02-11T21:03:00.000-05:00

Well tonight I am to darn tired to even stamp *frown*. I signed myself up for morning exercise classes with childcare included. Essentially I am paying someone to torture me. I am so tired that It is almost to much effort to write lol. So I figured I would do something which I have been neglecting to do for a while. Some of you might know that I detest writing on my blog. I like to post pictures , and I would love to do a voice recording of what I used, but I hate to sit here and type. It is just to monotonous. I am more of a face to face or phone person. So yes I have been hiding in a little shell avoiding writing this post out of sheer laziness. So now I have no excuse. ( and please don't think that I don't appreciate your kindness, its just that besides being lazy, I would rather mostly be stamping then typing).

From Kraftin Kimmie who is one of my Fav. bloggers, and who's work I love Is the Excellent Award. Here is the part I hate, trying to single out only a few bloggers of all that I love.
1. Claudia from Pretty Pressings ( always has great projects and cards)
2. Ila from Artfully Illa ( her work is breathtaking)
3. Leslie from Running with Scissors ( all I can say is wow)
4. Inge from Patterned Paper ( fantastic layouts and designs)
5. Marlene from A Lil'bit of me ( great cards and technique)

Ok, next the You Cheer Me Up Award from Heike's Stempelwelt Thank you so much, You Cheer me up also. Let me tell you ladies that sometimes the fun things you guys do is what keeps me going as well as inspires me.

1. Libby's Little Addiction
2. Chelemom's Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker
3. Flossies Follies
4. Rose Ann with Paper Delightz
5. Marga with Marjas Scrapfun

Ok, lastly is the You make my day award from Ila over at Artfully Ila's . This lady rocks!!!

1. Laura from Paper and Glue ( awsome blogger, great work, and such fun to visit)
2. Donna from Serenity in Stamping ( Lot's of fun, and her cupcake work makes you hungry)
3. Kraftin'kimmies Korner ( I love all her stuff and would nominate her for everything)
4. Michelle from Paper Cuts ( such classy elegant cards which make me smile)
5. Andrea at Andrea's Sunny Stampin ( actually I nominate her for all three because she is amazingly talented, She is really sweet in person, She always makes my day, and she's my sister! Oh ya and I know I will make her day by making her take the time to post this hee hee! What are sisters for?)

Well to be honest I like all my blogging friends and everyone on my blogroll and about 60 more that I have not yet uploaded because my list would take forever to scroll down on. I picked some because I know they sometimes visit. Some of the ones I like I am not even sure that they would get it. So consider yourself tagged cuz I luv you all!

Magnolia...A little bird told me

2008-02-10T23:27:00.000-05:00

This card is based on to inspirations. The first is from Leslie at Running with Scissors . She did a fantastic card using a TP method and Poppin pastels. Check out the link above for the tutorial and instructions. I followed her instructions for creating this background, It's so neat because it almost looks like stone. The next inspiration is from Claudia over at Pretty Pressings. She Paired up this lovely saying with this stamp of Tilda and bird. In her case she used it for a baby greeting. For this I'm leaving it open as to what the bird told her ( birthday, wedding, etc..).
recipe:
Stamps: Magnolia girl and sign, SU DD Wildflowers, Carte Postal, French Flair
Paper: Very Vanilla, Fabriano Watercolor paper, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Ranger Distress in Tea Dye, Vintageand Walnut stain, Stewart superior in Burnt Umber, Versamark
Chalks: Pumpkin, Mustard, Old Olive, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Caramel
Other: various SU re-inkers, Twinkling H2O's, Cinnamon Stickles, Quickutz bird ( from trio), Spica Glitter pen in orange and clear, White Gel pen, Chocolate Satin Ribbon, Glue dots and pop-up dots. Oval Nestabilities, Krylon fixative, Angel Glimmer mist in Tiger lily and Olive.
I wish you could see this up close, It sparkles and shines in a way that the camera just can't capture ( although I did try) . The girl was colored with a mix of reinkers and Twinkling H2O's and then Spica was added to the skirt, shirt and hair for extra glimmer. The background was sprayed with Angel mist before using the fixative to keep the chalk from transfering. The popped up flowers are also chalk and versamard then fixative. Edge of oval was distressed. Hope you like!
Hugs
Sophie

RAK from Libby!

2008-02-08T12:43:00.001-05:00

What a stunning card that Libby from Libby's Little Addiction sent me! Isn't it Gorgeous! It is so sparkly and beautiful, and it just makes me happy to look at! If you haven't checked out her work then don't wait, and go take a look. That girl has tons of talent! She also has the most adorable new baby girl. Congratulations Libby, get plenty of rest and may you have a quick recovery!.

Hugs

Sophie

CC designs Little Penguins gone chicks!

2008-02-06T11:19:00.000-05:00

I had a lot of fun with these penguins! I decided to turn them into little chicks. I realize that I seem to be stuck in working with three's. I 'm not sure what it is ( no not a premonition that I'm pregnant with triplets). Anyways, I decided to pull out some of my new Basic Grey Two Scoops DP, and pair it up with these adorable CCdesigns Little Penguins. Now this is the reason for chics and not penguins..........they match better.

recipe:

stamps: CCdesigns Little Penguins, PaperTrey sentiment

Paper: Pomegranate, Neena Classic Solar White CS, So Saffron, Basic Grey DP, Rose Red

Ink : Stewart Superior Black, Ranger Distress ink in Lipstick and Tea Dye.

Other : Prismacolor and Faber and Castel color pencils, OMS, Twinkling H2O's, AIG glitter, May Art Ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder in Textile.

It's a pretty straight forward card, but cute in my humble opinion. And ladies, I do apologize if I haven't been commenting as much lately. I'm just swamped! Classes to prepare, Son to toilet train, daughter to teach, Husband leaving for a month of training again, yada, yada, yada. So please don't think I'm not checking out your great stuff, I'm just browsing in 2 minute spurts when and where I can.

Take Care, and Hugs

Sophie

Finally Done

2008-02-05T12:42:00.000-05:00

Wow,
I got home yesterday quite late to discover that my husband had done nothing while I was away. I came home to an unloaded dishwasher, dirty dishes, and more mess. MEN!!!!! Go figure he was out on course when i arrived. I had to unpack the car and kids, unload the dishwasher, load it again, cook dinner, bath the children and put them to bed. Phewww! I did over the weekend manage to get a second blog up and running which I explain why over there. So check it out and let me know what you think! Moonlight-Inker2. I will not be posting daily on both but rather will alternate between the two. I should hopefully be posting here tonight!
Hugs Sophie

Out of Town

2008-02-02T20:36:00.000-05:00

So sorry ladies! I'm out of town right now, and have been gone since Friday. This week has been crazy busy, and I won't be posting anything till Maybe Monday night but most likely Tuesday. Had to go into the city because my son has an appointment with the Pediatrician, and we don't have one in our community. Figured I might as well make a trip of it and stay with my parents, do some shopping and have fun. I brought no stamping supplies so that I could concentrate on Updating my Stampin'Up website and maybe start an alternate blog. Be sure to check up on Magnolia Inspiration Blog for great contests to win free Magnolia stamps, and also All That Scraps for some great sales. Have a great weekend!
Hugs
Sophie

Quick Magnolia Post

2008-01-31T08:57:00.000-05:00

Today is just a quick post as I am quite busy. This is a Magnolia card to give for a new home or neighboor. Both front and back are decorated. Images are all Watercolored with reinkers. Hollyhocks and sign are hand drawn. Sign was left blank so that at a later date I could put the appropriate greeting. Ribbon was tied in a style that I saw on Mish Mash. Papers are just a bunch of types that I had sitting in the drawer. Ribbon was through an exchange with Jody Lynn on Confessions of a Ribbon addict. There is lots of shimmer on this card from Spica glitter pens and stickles for Tilda Angels wings. Sorry for the short post but like I said, super busy. Have a great day and thanks for all your heartwarming comments :) .
Hugs Sophie
below is the back view of the card!

Simple sketch

2008-01-29T23:36:00.000-05:00

A little while ago while doing my Blog rounds, I came upon this card by Rose Anne which I loved for its simplicity and color. I decided right then and there that I needed to do one myself. It's to easy to get seduced by all the DP and embellishments out there, forgetting that less can often be more. For this card, I came upon a stamp that showed an adorable bird condo on a branch. I don't remember which company made it but I think it is a new release. I decided to sketch my own bird condo from what I remembered. I added a little bee hive and bee.

recipe:

Stamp: Papertrey sentiment, image is sketched

Paper: Fabriano Mediovalis pre-scored card

Ink: Faber and Castel Pitt marker in Sepia, various reinkers for coloring, Basic Brown.

Other: Stickles, May Art ribbon

Sketched the image first with pencil, and then went over the lines with Faber Castel Pitt Marker. Colored it in, added stickles and tied ribbon.

Its a short post tonight, I have to prepare for a Library class Thursday. I have been working on another card, so if I'm lucky and work efficiently then I may post tomorrow. Thanks so much for popping by.

Hugs,

Sophie

Magnolia: down memory lane

2008-01-28T22:06:00.001-05:00

I'll be the first to admit that this is not a standard style of card. But there really is a method, or at least reason to the madness. If you would rather not go through the whole spiel behind this card then feel free to skip down to the recipe. Oh ya, lol and I haven't fallen of the face of the earth, but was taking a little break to spend time with hubby and family. Ok , to the card. I was trying to challenge myself to do something different. I get into funks where I use all stamps from a same company or other such things. So the first part of my personal challenge was to mix to totally unrelated styles of stamps. The second part was to base it on a memory or feeling. For those of you who don't know I am half Hungarian and half Mexican. This card is based on a memory from Hungary. When I was young and visiting family there, I remember a day when it came time to make apricot jam. I remember my aunts living room filled with boxes and boxes of apricots. There were newspapers lying under for protection from juices. There was a huge bubbling black pot out in the yard. And we spent lots of time pitting those apricots and stirring that pot for my Grandmas delicious jam. To this day when you eat it, its like sunshine in a bottle. The Old world feel and the look is still strong in my mind. This card was supposed to be an expression of that memory. I did not have an apricot stamp so settled for a bowl of cherries, of which there are many in Hungary. The DP is reminiscent of the faded wallpaper, the little girl with her basket ready to pick reminds me of me ( although more pitting then picking). Touches of ribbon and flowers complete the feeling of the outside rich with blooms. Last the piece of Newspaper DP to remind me of the papers that you sit the boxes on top of . If this card is to weird then I don't mind you saying so. For me it was a trip down memory lane.

recipe:

stamps: Magnolia, Lockhart cherries, Like it a Latte swirl

Paper: Daisy D's Gazette DP, Cosmo Cricket DP, My Mind's Eye DP, Chocolate, Cranberry Crisp, Marigold, Fabriano Artistico Hot Press WP, Whisper White.

Ink: Stewart Superior Burnt Umber, Ranger Distress Ink in Vintage, Scattered Straw, Mahogany.

Other: Prismacolor and Faber and Castel color pencils, reinkers, May Art ribbon, Prima Flowers, rhinestone brads, Twinkling H2O's, nestability circle and scallop circle, Copic marker and airbrush, stickles.

The girl was stamped on watercolor paper and colored in with reinkers, stickles were added to her wings. She was cut and set aside. Cherries were stamped, colored with color pencil, OMS and Twinkling H2O's, image was then cut with nestability die, masked with same die and airbrushed after masking image. The rest is self explanatory. Thanks for joining me on my trip down memory lane.

Hugs

Sophie

Magnolia Sketch Challenge 160

2008-01-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

I was too tired to post last night. Yesterday during the day I had dropped my ring into the snow. I knew the general area, but not exactly where. Wasn't my brightest move as I spent the almost 5 hours scraping through the snow bit by bit till it was finally found. Never fool around with your ring! It's a bad habit of mine. So needless to say by the end of the day I was pooped from being out in the cold hunched over scraping at mounds of snow!

Ok , today's cards is for sketch challenge 160 which was from yesterday. In my defence it was done yesterday. I just didn't feel like posting it.

recipe:

stamps: Magnolia

ink: SU black, Soft Sky, Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue

Paper: Stamper Select White, Old Olive, Soft Sky DP, Not Quite Navy, Hunter Green

Other: Exacto Knife, Copic Markers, Color Pencils, Twinkling H2O's, White gel Pen, Stickles

I used Zindorf's card as a spring board! I used the same colors as her and then went from there. I colored my picture pieces and then cut them out. They were colored with a mix of Copic ( all) Then the fence was enhanced with color pencil, and the ground with Twinkling H2O's. They were then cut out and put aside. Next I took Whisper White, brayered it with Soft Sky and sponged with Not Quite Navy and Bashful Blue. Swirl clouds were then stamped on. The rest is just put together with swirl clouds added and white gel pen stitching.

hugs

Sophie

CCDesigns Funny Bunny

2008-01-22T23:48:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note because my sister pointed it out. The bottom image is not a card, it is just a sample of how my brayered/sponged background ended up! She wasn't sure what it was so I thought I would clarify!
Tonight was brutal. I was trying my utmost to achieve the Brayer effects that Zindorf on Splitcoast achieves. In particular I was using this card as my inspiration for today's card. I went through tons of paper and ink. Threw out umpteen attempts. Almost gave up and finally hit on my own way to achieve her effects. I brayered the lightest color then sponged on the other colors and blended it in. I just couldn't figure out how she achieved that blended look without the straight lines that the brayer gives. I tried moving the brayer up and down to no avail. So anyways I used one of my varied attempts to make today's card.
recipe:
stamps: CCdesigns bunny and sentiment, SU Oh So Lovely
ink: Stewart Superior Burnt Umber, SU Pomegranate, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Stamper Select White, Old olive, Whisper White, Confetti Cream
Other: Prismacolor and Faber and Castel color Pencils, Twinkling H2O's, White gel Pen, Nestabilities rectangle plain and scalloped, Brayer, sponges, May Art Ribbon, Jessie James glitter dots, Stickles in Cinnamon and Diamond, Faber and Castel Pitt pen in Sepia.

Colored image first, and then cut out with nestability. Adhered to scalloped layer. Brayered and sponged rainbow layer. Everything else is self explanatory. Have a great night and I hope to post tomorrow, just not sure because I have Stamper's Club Friday which I am preparing for.
hugs,
Sophie

Penguin Hugs

2008-01-22T00:29:00.001-05:00

I wanted to keep today's card simple. Sometimes I find it nice to vary my style and methods. It helps to keep things interesting. I never like to stick with any one medium, or color or anything for that matter. I thrive on change and variety! Today I pulled out my adorable penguin set by CCDesigns. He was just itching to be used. I started out promising myself that I would not distress this piece.........you see it lasted to about the end of the card when my hand automatically reached for the ink and sponge and did this of its own accord.

recipe:

stamps: CCDesigns

Ink: Stewart Superior Black, Ranger distress in Spiced Marmalade and Broken China

Paper: Prism CS, Piggie Tales DP in Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

Other: Prismacolor and Faber and Castel color pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Cuttlebug nested flower dies, Nestabilities square and scallop square, Jessie James glitter dots ( love them), white gel pen, May Art ribbon, black Copic multiliner pen .03, gold cording.

Image was stamped, colored and highlighted on cheeks and balloon with white gel pen. The rest is pretty easy. All products used are from All That Scraps.

Hugs

Sophie

So Excited!!!!!

2008-01-21T08:56:00.000-05:00

Ok, guess what...................can any one figure out what I have to share? I'll give you a hint! It has to do with some stamps I've been showing a lot of lately. Still can't guess? I got an e-mail this morning from Magnolia........and...........I'M ON THEIR DESIGN TEAM!!!!!! I was hopping up and down like a mad woman *grin* . I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!! I just love their stamps, and if you check out their Blog you can see their amazing stuff and their amazing Design team. It is such an honor to be part of it. I am so looking forward to all the new and exciting images that are being released, and have yet to be released. Promise you won't be disappointed, I know I never am. Each time a new release comes, I am in awe of the images. So go on, check it out, and let me know what you think!
Hugs,
Sophie

Magnolia recipe card holder

2008-01-20T22:53:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, I will have some lovely CCdesign projects to show you. But for tonight I have another lovely Tilda holding a basket of baked goods. This little project is perfect when you want to give someone some of your favorite recipes, and don't want to have it scribbled down on a piece of dilapidated paper! The front starts of looking like a normal card. The ribbon is a tied closure for the folder.

When you open it up you have a little folder where you can place your recipe card. In this case I have a Rhubarb torte recipe which has a shortbread like crust! Yum,yum!!

The recipe card is decorated with a Magnolia cupcake! What a perfect image for a dessert.

recipe:

stamps: Magnolia, SU Recipe Fun, SU Baroque Motifs

Ink: Stewart Superior Black, Groovy Guava

Paper: Groovy Guava, Pomegranate, K and Co DP, Celery DP, Rose Red DP, Fabriano Hot Press watercolor paper

Other: SU reinkers, Prima flowers, Spica glitter pens, Stickles, May Art ribbon, Crystal effects, rhinestones.

Image was stamped on watercolor paper and colored, then a little doodling was added to edge. All the matting was done, and embellishments added. Instead of leaves for the flower, I used baked goods from Magnolia which were water colored and then glazed with crystal effects so that they would look more realistic.

Cheerio, and have a great tomorrow!

Sophie

Magnolia singing in the rain!

2008-01-20T00:53:00.000-05:00

I don't know that she is actually singing, but she is certainly having fun! I know I had fun working with her today. I wasn't sure about the mushrooms, and himmed and hawed over it for the longest time. I finally decided in favour of them for the burst of color that they give. After I had permanently adhered them I wasn't sure I had made the right choice. It's times like this that a neighbor stamper would be really handy.

recipe: Magnolia girl, fence, clouds, mushroom

Paper: Soft Sky, Cranberry, unknown orangy yellow kinda peachy, K and Company paper from large box purchased at Cosco, Stampers Select White

Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid black, Ranger Distress in Broken China, Tea dye and Marigold

Other: Copic Markers, May Art ribbon, White Gel Pen, Pop up dots, Crystal effects, Copic multi liner pen, Sewing machine, Stickles in waterfall, Nestability in plain square.

This was a fun little project. I started by stamping her on stamper select and coloring her with Copic Markers. I cut her out and set her aside. Next I stamped her again on Stamper Select and then stamped the fence over her. I sketched out the grass and puddle. I colored it in, sponging the sky with Distress ink in China. Image was cut with Nestability and embossed. Next the girl was adhered over the girl stamped out over the fence ( if that makes sense). Crystal effects was added to the puddle, splash on hand and the rain drops. DP was then put together and stitched on machine. The rest of the card was put together as seen.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit, and have a great tomorrow.

hugs

Sophie

Magnolia feel better 2

2008-01-18T19:53:00.000-05:00

I am quite tickled pink over this little project. I've been wanting to come up with a cute little gift idea for someone who was not feeling well. I finally came up with this idea based on all the lip balm holders that were being shown of Splitcoast. The stamp is the same as yesterday's..a sweet sick Magnolia angel. I measured out my Kleenex and vick's vapour inhaler and determined how big a "box" I would need. Then I decorated it.
The card is designed to be the decorative panel on the front. The little pine cone tab holds it closed when you are giving it. When you open it up there are two nice panels to write your get well message.
The red organdy/satin ribbon helps to hold it closed, and swirls and distressing were added to the back and sides.
I still have to run out to get some Vick's Vapour inhaler, but for the meantime I used a chap stick which is approximately the same diameter. The Kleenex is held in with Red Tape. If you look to the sides you will see two black strips. These are magnets which are applied with the red tape. It holds the box closed and lets it keep its shape and not get warped.
Lastly, both ends are open. It's the perfect little something to give to a sick friend. You can substitute a bottle of Tylenol or anything else in a cylinder.
recipe:
stamps: Magnolia, SU Baroque Motifs
Ink: Stewart Superior Black, Basic Brown, Ranger Distress Tea dye, broken china, Mahogany, Vintage, Versamagic Sea Breeze
Paper: Stamper Select White, Real Red, Soft Sky, River Rock, Cosmo Cricket DP
Other: Prismacolor and Faber Castel color pencils, OMS, Twinkling H2O's, rhinestone brad, chipboard pine cone tab, Nestability rectangle and scallop rectangle, Quickutz button tab, unknown ribbon, Kleenex, Vick's Vapour inhaler, White Gel Pen, Magnetic strip or sheet, Red two way tape.
Hope you like my little project today, I have to say I was thrilled and in love when I finished. Now who to give it too?..........*sniff, sniff* is that a cold I feel coming on?
Hugs
Sophie

Magnolia Feel better soon

2008-01-18T00:46:00.000-05:00

I was working with this sweet image from Magnolia today. I have another matching project that goes with it, but didn't have time to finish it so I will have to show you tomorrow. I Finally realized why the pictures seemed overexposed recently and have since rectified the problem. So today it looks truer to life.

recipe:

stamps: Magnolia, SU Baroque Motifs, Hand sketched Kleenex and bottle on its side.

ink: Stewart Superior Black, SU Night of Navy

Paper: Cosmo Cricket DP, Real Red, Brown CS, Stamper Select White

Other: Prismacolor and Faber Castel color pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Quickutz thought bubble, Nestabilities, ribbon, Prima flowers and leaves, Dollar store brad, Spica glitter pen, AIG blue glitter,

This was a fun image to color. I did him first with the color pencils and then went over with Twinkling H2O's to deepen the shadows. I sketched out, colored and cut the two extra pieces then adhered them. The rest is pretty easy. Have a great Friday! I know I will.

Hugs

Sophie

Magnolia's Tilda SC159

2008-01-17T00:25:00.000-05:00

Wow, two posts in a day! That doesn't happen often. But I had the time and was in a good mood so what can I say. This is Sketch Challenge #159 from today. I had a really hard time putting it together. I don't know what it was, but It took me so long to fiddle with the different pieces, and in the end I'm not sure that I am totally happy with the end result.
recipe:
Stamps: Magnolia , Karen Foster Alphabet
Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid in Black, Ranger distress in Pine and broken china
Paper: Biggie Junior water color pad, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Stamper Select White, Basic Grey DP
Other: Tombow markers, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Nestability oval, May Art ribbon, Stickles, Spica glitter pen in gold, olive, blue and clear, hole punch, copic markers.
This card shimmers as you shift it in the light. Tilda was stamped on watercolor paper then colored and cut ( for details of watercolor with marker check under tutorials). Next I did up the oval background. It was colored and sponged with blue ink. There is a bit of masking going on. If you look below you can see background before Tilda was glued on. The Basic grey DP was mounted on the red CS and then holes were punched out so that you could see the Old Olive peeking through. Old Olive was embossed with Cuttlebug folder. Stickles were added to the holes. Everything was then mounted up and sentiment added. Thanks for looking again, and have a great night/morning.
Sophie

You make me squeal

2008-01-16T22:20:00.000-05:00

Yet another great stamp from CCdesigns. I just love this little piggies! I am also on roll right now with my Color pencils, Twinkling H2O's and OMS. I seem to go in cycles with my styles and mediums. This little Crisscross box was made using the template of the amazingly talented Nichole Heady. That girl has got talent when it comes to coming up with projects. You can see the project she came up with here. I followed her instructions for the criss cross box using her stamp set and then decorated the panel with CCdesigns.
Recipe:
Stamps: CCdesigns Love ya' Lots , Papertrey squares
Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid Black, Ranger distress ink in Tea Dye, Vintage and Lipstick, SU Regal Rose and Old Olive
Paper: SU Vanilla, Regal Rose, Stamper Select White
Other: May Art ribbon, Prismacolor and Faber Castel color pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Tag Punches, Nestabilities, White Gel Pen
I followe Nicholes instructions for the box. Next I stamped out the image, colored it in, sketched out some mud an grass, colored those in and then cut it out with Nestabilities. Everything else was easy!
Chow Bellas
and have a great evening

Filuren

2008-01-16T00:24:00.000-05:00

Today's card is using a very fun stamp from a group of stamps which are Called Filuren by Kortmakaren. As you may guess from the sound of the name, it is a Swedish Company. I asked a fellow blogger what Filuren means, and according to the artist it means 'sly guy'. She didn't know what they were exactly, but I figure that they are lovable, adorable little sly amoebas. This particular fellow is a sly angel. I have his counterpart still waiting to be inked.
recipe:
Stamps: Kortmakaren Filuren
Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid in burnt Umber, Ranger distress in Tea dye and Marigold
Paper: Unknown brown, Prism mustard color, SU Soft Sky, Piggie DP, Stamper Select White
Other: Prismacolor and Faber and Castel color pencils, OMS, Twinkling H2O's, Prima flowers, Dew Drops, Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet, May Art ribbon, Stickles, white gel pen.
I've been experimenting using color pencils on various papers and find I like the results on the Stampers Select. I find that Whisper White is beautiful, but the lack of tooth means I can't layer as much color. All supplies excluding the stamp can be found an All That Scraps for a great price. Not to mention that shipping is free in the States for orders over $10.00 and free in Canada for orders over $100.00. What a great way to stock up on all your needs and not worry about shipping ( especially when you live in Canada and shipping is so expensive). Hope you enjoyed today's card, and have a great day!

Blog Candy Winner

2008-01-14T09:21:00.000-05:00

Well, beware when you ask an 8 year old for help!lol. I wrote down every suggested name and let her choose. She liked them all, and took a long time picking just one. Each one became a new favorite. But after repetition and exasperation she narrowed it down to one, and left me to go through the list to figure out who had left it. The winner is:

Kraftin' Kimmie
Ooooh!!!This card is FAB-ulous!! Your colouring is awesome, as always!! I need to make time to get to this layout too!! I think we have the same taste in stamps too, girl!! Umm....name for your candy....How about Moonlight Munchies, Moonlight Twinkles, Twinkle Treats, Moonlight Sparkles. I'll see what else I can think of.But what awesome candy!! LOVE the little kitty!! Thanks for the chance!!
and the winning choice is
Twinkle Treats

Please e-mail me you snail mail address and your choice of Whisper White or Shimmer CS for the stamped Hanglar images.
Hugs
Sophie

Mane Squeeze

2008-01-13T00:29:00.000-05:00

This is another card using the recently released CCdesigns Love Ya' Lots. There are so many fun things that you can do with this set. In this case I sketched out a tree with the help of a circle template which I got in the drafting section of the office supply store. Don't forget that choosing for the Blog Candy is Monday Morning.

Recipe:

stamps: CCdesigns ( All That Scraps) Love Ya' Lots

Paper: Ruby Red, Sage, Chocolate Chip, Cosmo Cricket DP, Whisper White, Shimmer CS

Ink: Hybrid ink in Burnt Umber, Ranger Distress in Mahogany, Tea dye,Broken China, Vintage

Other: Prismacolor and Faber Castel color pencils, OMS, Twinkling H2O's, Red stickles, Dew Drops in Hydrangea, May Art Ribbon, Cuttlebug postage tag, Nestabilities rectangle and scallop rectangle and Drafting circle template.

pretty straight forward card, I colored image then cut using nestabilities, and adhered the dew drops with glue dots. Thanks so much and have a great day.

Love Birds here at last!

2008-01-11T12:38:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know I have to stop griping about the post in Canada. But to quote someone: "Don't they realize how desperately we need our stuff?!!!". You know its slow when you want to start stalking the Postman. Ok, on to other stuff. If you haven't all ready, sign up for my Blog Candy down below. Drawing will take place Monday Morning. I'm letting my daughter pick, because It is so hard to decide, I want all your wonderful ideas to win. So at least this way I can't be blamed! For this Card, I used my long awaited, very versatile, and oh so Stinkin Cute, CCdesign stamps from the set "love Ya Much". These stamps along with its sister set are my favorite, oh ya and the penguin's, and the ......ok, never mind. I love them all. Christine the designer of these stamps just rocks!!
recipe:
stamps: CCdesign Love ya Much
Paper : SU Bali Breeze DP, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, Pomegranate, and Stamper Select White CS
Ink: Stewart Superior Hybrid black, Ranger Distress: Broken China, Shabby Shutter, Tea Dye, Vintage, Mahogany, Olive Ink, Pomegranate
Other: Faber Castel and Prismacolor pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Copic C-1, Copic sketch pen, Quickutz tag, Nestabilities rectangle scallop and regular, SU ribbon and cording, white gel pen, fruit punch stickles.
I've been trying to copy a bit of Ila's coloring style! Haven't quite got it yet, but hopefully practice makes perfect. Leaves are hand sketched, and everything else is self explanatory. Oh ya and look below and see how awesomely these stamps arrive. Already mounted and ready to use. I love not having to mount!
Have a great day, and see y'all later!

Sketch challenge 158 and Blog Candy

2008-01-10T12:13:00.000-05:00

Well this is my submission for SC 158. I actually found that I really loved it. It was such a unique way to present a card that Ked came up with. I am so glad they made it into a challenge.
recipe:
stamps: Hanglar and Stanglar girl, Magnolia flower, and swirl, Papertrey sentiment.
Paper : SU Ginger Blossom, Guava, Vanilla, Ruby Red, River Rock, Fabriano Hot Press
Ink : Black Memories, Ranger Distress in Tea Dye and Vintage, Ruby Red, River Rock
Other : Pearl dimensions, River Rock ribbon, re-inkers various colors, Spica glitter pens in pink, melon and clear, Nestabilities scallop oval and smooth oval, white gel pen, Caramel marker, Faber Castel Pitt artist pen in Sepia.
I stamped the girl on Fabriano watercolor paper, colored her in and cut her out. The banner was hand sketched and sentiment stamped on. Everything else is self explanatory.

Now for the Blog Candy! As everyone can tell I love Swedish stamps. I love the Hanglar,Magnolia and Kortmakaren stamps. I have with the help of kind people and Swedish Ebay been able to get a hold of some, and in the case of Magnolia order direct from Sweden. I love stamping with the people, but I also love the accessories and bits and pieces. So today I am offering 8 Magnolia stamps. 2 animals and 6 plants. I have the same ones and love to use them to embellish the cards. A couple will come mounted and the rest unmounted. Also I am including some ribbon, and I will also send (not pictured here) a small selection of already stamped CS with some Hanglar images and Magnolia images. You can tell me if you want it stamped on Whisper White CS or Shimmer White CS. All you have to do is suggest a name for the Blog candy that fits my Blog name, and tell me something about yourself. I will ship around the world, the only thing is that if you live overseas, it may ship slower due to the cost of postage here in Canada. Cheerio and have a great day! Oh ya, the winner will be announced Monday Morning!

Last weeks SC 157

2008-01-09T00:05:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is posted kinda late. I was planning on posting a beautiful card from a lovely friend in Sweden, and realized that I left the card at my Sisters house in Cambridge. It just so happens that she leaves for Palm Spring tomorrow and won't be back for a few days. So as soon as she gets back I plan to have her send it back to me. That's the problem with me and holidays. Whenever I go visiting, I leave a trail of things behind me at everyone house. Then I spend the next month trying to get it all back. This year I managed to leave one slipper from my son, 3 CD's that belong to the library and are due in 3 days, a card, a shirt and a book. How pathetic is that!!

Anyways, on to the card and less of my griping. This was my challenge card for last week , which I did this week. It uses those cute little House of Mouse images.

recipe:

Stamps: House of Mouse, PaperTrey cake stamp set, Lockhart mini cherries, SU Sanded

Paper : Basic Grey DP, Fabriano watercolor paper, Old Olive, Wasabi, Cranberry, Vanilla

Ink : Stewart Superior Hybrid black ink, Basic Brown, Ranger distress in Pine

Other : Re-inkers, Jessie James glitter dots, May art Ribbon, mini-thin pop-up dots, regular pop-up dots, circle punches, Spica glitter pens in red and Olive.

Sections of the mouse are popped up to add dimension, the cherry DP is made with stamps, everything else is self-explanatory.

Another Bookmark

2008-01-07T00:29:00.000-05:00

My daughter just loved the first bookmark I made her, so I decided to do a bunch more. Sorry for all of you who are looking for cards, but for the next while it will be a mix of both. It's part of my permanent art program to myself. I want pretty stuff for myself. So this little bookmark was made with a mix of Magnolia stamps and a beautiful Hanglar girl. I have this girl and some others through the effort and kindness of a wonderful lady from Sweden. I will show tomorrow the beautiful card she made. I am trying to not post everything at once so that I have something for most days this week.
recipe:
stamps: Hanglar & Stanglar, Magnolia
paper : Fabriano 140lbs Hot Press watercolor paper, Wintergreen DP, Soft Sky, Vellum cs
Ink : Stewart Superior Hybrid black ink, Ranger distress Tea dye and China blue
other : re-inkers, watercolor brushes, Spica glitter pens, Stickles, Cuttlebug swirl folder, corner rounder punch.
Everything is pretty easy to do, just a note though, The watercolor paper is amazing, trust me when I say that you get what you paid for. I never would have believed what a difference there is if i hadn't tried it for myself.

I'm Back !!!!

2008-01-06T00:07:00.000-05:00

It feels like I have been away forever! I have actually been back since Thursday, but have been trying to get the house in order in preparation for the return to normal life. I have had only short bursts of opportunity to look at blogs or stamp. I almost felt like hugging my stamp space. So today, I have a CCdesign card to show. Sadly the mailman lost my penguins from last month. So this month I am expecting the new stamps + last month's penguins. *Sigh* Canada post is so darn slow! So for today I altered my penguin a bit. I figured his ear muffs could be used as earphones. So I added a music box and some notes to complete the look.

recipe:

stamps: CCdesign, PaperTrey Ink sentiment (eat cake)

paper : Piggy Tales DP, Prism and Bazzil CS, Stamper Select White, Chocolate Chip

Ink : Stewart Superior Hybrid black, Versamagic Turquoise Gem, Distress Ink in Vintage and China blue

Other : Glitter dots (Jesse James), Nestabilities, Copic + Air, Copic pen, May Art ribbon, Cuttlebug folder, gold brads.

Everything is pretty self explanatory. The radio is easy to draw, just boxes and circles. The glitter dots are just so awesome! I can't get enough of it. All supplies can be found at All That Scraps. Thanks so much and have a great day!

My Husband's Project

2007-12-20T22:49:00.001-05:00

Ok, this is my third post this evening! I am trying to make up for the fact that I am leaving for Christmas Holiday's tomorrow, and won't be back till the 2nd of January. I most likely will not be posting till I come home. Now this is something I have to share. I am so proud of my Husband. He just completed this bed/loft system for my daughter. My husband does carpentry for a hobby, and this is his first big piece. We are really lacking in space in our house and needed a bed set for my daughter which was very compact. He started with a load of wood, a paper plan for the bed and his own design for the dresser underneath. After many weekends and evenings for the past few months ( when he has been home) he has finally completed this project and it is now sanded, stained, verathaned and in action as I write. I love having a handy husband :)!

Fun Bookmarks 2.5 x 7 inch

2007-12-20T22:25:00.001-05:00

I have always disliked the short lives of cards. I love making them, but once they are given, they are gone, and not always to those who appreciate it. It has been my quest therefore to make things for my house and family, which can be used, appreciated, and which can beautify the environment. I have so far made wall art, and hangers, and come the new year have more projects planned. Today, I needed bookmarks. Now I don't know about you, but I hate ugly objects. I read a lot as does my daughter, so I made some fun little bookmarks. The first one is for me.
recipe:
stamps: SU Baroque Motifs, Hanglar and Stanglar ( strawberry fairy here) and Magnolia for the little bits and peaces.
Paper: Fabriano Artistico Hot Press 140lbs, Ruby Red CS, Daisy D's DP
Ink: Stewart Superior Burnt Umber, Basic Brown, Ranger distress in Vintage
Other: Re-inkers, Prismacolor pencils, Faber and Castel Pencils, Spica Olive, Orange, Melon and red, White gel pen, Stickles in Waterfall, glue dots, red tape.
Fairy was colored using color pencils and OMS. Stickles were for wings, Spica to dot her dress and simulate a strawberry. Leaves and mushrooms were stamped ( grass drawn in around mushrooms) and colored with re-inkers. Background Magnolia grass was stamped on olive DP and then the fairy and accessories added.

stamps: SU Baroque Motifs, Stanglar and Hanglar fairy ( lady bug fairy this time), Magnolia accessories.

Paper: Black, Olive CS, Unknown DP, red Bazzill, GP CS

Ink: Ranger Distress in Pine, Stewart Superior Burnt Umber

other: Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet, Prismacolor and Faber-Castell color pencils, White gel pens, Spica: black, clear and melon, Stickles in Waterfall and Black Diamond, re-inkers.

Image was stamped on GP CS, and colored in. Black dots were added with copic marker and then glittered with Black Diamond. Wings are Waterfall glitter.

This bookmark was made with CCdesigns stamps. The size is 2.5 x 7 inches. The mat is 1/4 inch less. First I stamped snowflakes to emulate stars and embossed them with white embossing pwd. Next I took a versamark pad and pressed it the whole length of the dark navy mat and embossed a second time with a clear holographic embossing pwd. This baby really sparkles. Next I cut out layers of white into rolling hills and attached. I stamped out a tree, colored it with copics and adhered a bit under the snow line. The sledding puppy was stamped, cut and colored with copic's and then adhered with very small and thin dimensional which are normally used for decoupage. The speed lines were hand drawn and added to show him zooming down the hill on a snowy night. Last the two layers were put together and faux stitching added with white stitching around the edge. Stickles in candy cane were added to the tree, and stickles in diamond was added to the snow lines. I took the picture now, before I laminate it because I figured that the light of my flash would bounce off the plastic. Once I laminate I will punch the thick hole of the cropodile, place a large eyelet and add some fibers. And voila, a miniature work of art that you can enjoy every day!

City of David truffle Box

2007-12-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

I designed these boxes to match the city of David Card that I had made a couple of posts ago. I went looking for a template that would fit 4 Godiva truffles, this was to fulfill an order for 21 boxes, 21 place cards which matched, and Christmas cards. I couldn't find one that fit my needs so designed this one. It is all made from one 8 1/2 x 11 CS in Naturals cream. The outer scallop is Rust, and the inner one is Vanilla CS. Stamps used are CCdesigns snowflake for the stars on box and SU City of David which is soon to be retired. Image is colored with SU markers in Caramel, Rust, Brocade Blue, Olive and Chocolate Chip. Ink is Versa Brilliance in Olive Branch(?) and Gold Krylon marker was used to line the edge of the top. Organdy ribbon was put into a bow on the front through two holes.

Craft Fair cards

2007-12-15T00:21:00.000-05:00

Ok, some pretty basic stuff. These are some of the cards that I did for my Craft Fair. I try to keep those simple so that I can mass produce them. The first was inspired by Debbie Olson's card . I often struggle with simpler designs, so I often need to springboard from other peoples work.
The second card is pretty straight forward, and the last one is spring boarded from DuckWaddleQuack. She did these gorgeous ATC which I just had to use for this card. If you haven't seen her Gallery then by all means check it out, she has some amazing cards and designs, and is extremely talented. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

CCdesigns Wintertime fun

2007-12-13T00:29:00.000-05:00

I'm a little later posting these cards then most of the other DT members. Sadly when you live in Canada and have things coming from the States, it takes a heck of a lot longer to get here. Also I've been in need of a break for awhile, so my creative processing has been a lot slower. The first card uses all CCDesigns stamps.
paper: Georgia Pacific White CS, Cosmo Cricket DP Dutch girl, SU sky blue, blue Bayou.
Ink: Stewart Superior Black, Ranger Distress Ink in China Blue and Jean
Other: Copic Marker, Airbrush system, Twinkling H2O's, Nestability Oval and Scallop Oval, May Art Ribbon, Prismacolor pencils, Orderless Solvent.
Image was stamped, colored with Copic, cut out, placed on paper teared BG wich was airbrushed first. Glitter applied. Trees were colored with Prismacolor then overlaid with Twinkling H2O's. Rest is pretty easy.

This second card of mine was something of a pet project. i just love this Penguin stamp and snowman from CCdesigns. But I felt my little guy needed a home. So I sketched out an Igloo, some snow balls, a bucket of fish and a sign post. Images were sketched out with Copic Pens to prevent bleeding when I went to color with Copic Markers. Stickles in various shades were added liberally and a little red bow was added for a splash of color. Paper colors are SU Blue Bayou, Sky, and Shimmer White. Thanks so much for stopping in.
Hugs
Sophie

Another hanger for my daughter

2007-12-11T22:20:00.000-05:00

Same again as yesterday, only this one matches my daughter's room. Process was the same but instead I used copper knobs, and Dashing DP. Image is Hanglar and Stanglar gingerbread kids. They were water colored with re-inkers on Fabriano Artistico Hot press paper. I'm taking a bit of a break so my posts will be short for awhile.

Housecoat/stocking hanger for my Son's room

2007-12-10T15:52:00.000-05:00

I made these cute little hangers for my son's room. They are simple to make and very cute. My husband cut the wood panels out of pine for me and routered the edge with a decorative edge. He then sanded and brought it home. I sanded, sealed and then painted the panels. After adding 4 coats of ivory paint I added a satin finish. Next I used some of the old Christmas paper from last year's mini catalogue. It was adhered down with mod podge. Last a final coat of satin glaze was placed over. Images are from Magnolia and were stamped on Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper Hot Press. They were painted in with water brush and SU re-inkers. Next they were matted and attached with red liner tape. The final step was for my husband to attach the hardware. Drawer knob's for the front and the thing for letting you hang it. Thanks alot and have a great day.

Craft Fair project

2007-12-06T23:17:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to show one of my Craft fair projects. Theses are sets of 8 mini note cards in a decorated round tin. Original idea came from Erica Martin . I just fell in love with her cute little tins. Since I had no square tins, I decided to use what I had which was round tins.Each card was cut using Spellbinder Nestability circle, then embossed with a matching circle front. Cards were done using different colors of Bazzil 12x12 CS which gives 8 cards per sheet. Stamps are Stampin'Up Sweet Treats, Like it a Latte, Magnolia cupcake, and Lockhart cupcake which can not be seen. Like it a Latte is dressed up with Puff Applique for the foam and glitter and Spica red for the straw and marshmallows. Sweet treats has Crystal effects shining up the chocolate. Magnolia Cupcake uses watercolor marker technique, crystal effects for icing and Spica red and green for strawberry. Tins were altered to match card colors. Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening.

2 of 4 Stampers Club Projects

2007-12-05T18:14:00.000-05:00

Wow, the past little while has been something of a roller coaster ride. I had my Craft fair on Sunday, and was rather nervous seeing that it was my first time doing something like that. I was up the whole night leading up to it putting finishing touches on a bunch of projects. For the first time in my life my head never touched a pillow within a 40 hour period. I was an absolute grouch by the evening and ready for a mental breakdown. I'm not quite sure why i do this to myself. It was not to bad, I made good contacts and not bad sales, hopefully I've come away with enough experience to put to use for the next fair in Spring.
On to these two projects. These are for my Stampers Club on Friday, which I am working on in between filling some orders which I got on Monday and which are due Friday *sigh*(can't wait for vacation lol). They are worked around the use of vellum. The first card uses the City of David stamp set which is stamped on vellum CS with Versamark and embossed in Gold. Coloring is then done on the reverse with marker to produce a stained glass effect. The vellum which was cut in standard card size was overlaid over cream confetti CS card. The vellum on reverse side has glue dots to hold it in place. Glue dots are hidden behind embossed portions. Organdy ribbon was tied behind the whole.

This second card us made to display the dry emboss technique. Big on Christmas was stamped on Vellum CS with Staz-On and then flipped over. The SNW letters were pressed with stylus tool to create a raised embossed section. Snowman was stamped on Whisper White, colored, cut and glittered and then placed over main panel with a pop-up dot. Brads were used to adhere layer to Sky later. Holes were punched and bow tied. The other layers are Shimmer White, Sky and Blue Bayou card base. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to show you some of my Craft fair projects in the coming days.

Magnolia, and the Disaster that is my space!

2007-11-27T13:51:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post. I did a little Magnolia card. I just couldn't resist taking a break from craft show prep to play with her. She is stamped on watercolor paper, masked and the SU French script is stamped over. Image was colored using Tombow and SU markers then brushed with water to blend. Riveting was used to make the seal. Little lamp is Magnolia, and hearts are from a punch with stickles added to it and the light of the lamp. Copper Tattered Angel Shimmer mist was added to the whole. CS is So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Au Cerise DP. Ribbon is unknown Organdy with Satin.
Pictured above is the disaster that is my space. It is a miracle that I can work here. Believe it or not it is cleaned up every evening and over the course of my work time becomes this again!

Fast Post

2007-11-25T01:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I am one week away from my craft show. Needless to say I am working like a mad woman. Thankfully I remembered that I had a card I had not posted, so I am doing it now. Will try to post this week, but no promises. Room a disaster, cards and projects everywhere, think I am lost in here............not sure. This card was a Inkadinkadoo image ( think that's the company name). CS is Sage and Caramel, DP is Grettel Cosmo Cricket. Quickutz swirl, Swavorski crystals, Spellbinder Nestabilities, May Art ribbon, Glimmer mist in Copper. Thanks and so sorry for posting inconsistently.

Hugs

Sophie

Burlesque Deer

2007-11-20T09:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry have not been on in a while, unfortunately I had a large class at the library on Thursday, stampers club Friday and was sick over the weekend. Still sick, but was sick of not being able to stamp. So here is my card for today hee, hee. It is a joint venture between my husband and I. When I showed him my last deer card he suggested putting in a pole for a strip tease deer. I laughed and pooh-poohed the idea. The as I was humming this song on Monday Santa Baby I decided it would be fun after all to do the card with a more tasteful Burlesque deer doing a private showing for her partner. Hope you like, I had a lot of fun with it.

Images are CCdesigns from All That Scraps. Baby wording is Karen Foster Snap Stamps. Paper is SU Cool Caribbean, Cranberry and Thyme from last years in-color line. DP is Figgy Pudding from Basic Grey and image is stamped on Poison Ivory shimmer CS. Image is colored with Copic Markers and the whole of the card is distressed with Ranger Distress inks in Blue Jean, and Tea Dye. Thyme ribbon was used, Olivia Cuttlebug Alphabet for the Santa, and little bells for embellishment. Oh ya, pole was hand drawn after masking the deers arm.

Thanks so much and have a great day!!

Stamper Club project 2 of 3

2007-11-14T13:45:00.001-05:00

I realize of course that this may not be terrible exciting to ya'll, but its all I have to show at the moment. These are two of the projects for stampers club. The 3-D is not here at the moment because it does not yet exist. I kept procrastinating wanting to play with other stuff and now must pay the piper. I am scrambling to come up with the last design lol. Oh well, I'm sure I will pull a rabbit out of my hat. These projects all feature a element of working with paper. Paper Piecing and Torn Paper techniques. Well ta-ta, in a rush, hopefully something more exciting to show you later.

CCdesigns Reindeer Games

2007-11-13T13:01:00.000-05:00

Just a quick stop in to upload one of my more recent cards. I'm presently preparing for a couple Classes and Club's and don't have much time to write. This is a card using the CCdesigns Reindeer Games set. They are so cute and so much fun to work with. I kept the design simple and un-cluttered to showcase the image more. Card stock is Confetti Cream, Pomegranate, and SU shimmer white CS. Image is colored in with Copic Markers and highlighted with Spica Glitter pens in Red, Gold and Clear. Christmas ball border is embossed with SU glitter embossing pwd. Lettering is Cuttlebug Olivia, and distressing is done with Ranger Distress ink in Tea Dye. Cheerio and have a great day!

2007-11-11T23:21:00.000-05:00

I had done the past few cards all at once the other night, and am posting them one at a time. This is a card done once again in a more Euro style. Can you tell I love the style? If you are tired with it it, well I apologize, but its what I feel like doing lately lol. The image is a Hanglar stamp from last Christmas, greeting is SU Riveting. Paper is Caramel, Real Red and Au Cerise DP and Cryogenic White shimmer CS. Embellishments are Prima, rhinestone brad and Quickutz swirls. Image is colored with Prisma's, Faber and Castel and odorless spirits. Ultra fine glitter is used to highlight the image from Art Institute glitter. Please enjoy and have a great night.

Keeping it simple

2007-11-10T22:37:00.000-05:00

I decided to keep today's card simple, letting the image stand alone. I just love lockhart stamps, I find they need very little to be shown to their best advantage.

recipe:

stamps: Lockhart

Ink: Memory black ink, Ranger Tea Dye Distress Ink

Paper: Arturo White paper, Poison Ivory Shimmer CS, Ballet Blue CS

Other: Nestability rectangle and scallop rectangle, SU pretties kit, Tombow and SU water based markers, Spica glitter pens in clear and blue, Stickles Diamond, Ribbon through swap with Texas Jody Lynn.

Thanks so much and have a great evening.

Magnolia

2007-11-09T00:43:00.000-05:00

At long last I am having the opportunity to post the Magnolia projects which I have been working on. One of my greatest inspirations for these stamps is the very talented Inge who is on the Magnolia design team. She has so many great cards with these stamps. If you haven't tried them out then by all means click on the link in my shopping section and go to their site. It is not hard to navigate, and they will invoice you with a total within a week. Shipping is also very reasonable. For this project I created another DVD pencil tin. The one I did for my daughter turned out so nice that I decided to do another for myself. Whenever I travel somewhere I always bring some of my daughters schooling and I am always in need of my own pens, pencils and erasers.
recipe:
stamps: Magnolia, SU stamp of authenticity
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Blue Bayou, Real Red, Vanilla, watercolor paper 140lbs, shimmer CS white
Ink: Ranger distress ink in Tea Dye and Vintage, Memory ink
Other: Re-inkers, watercolor brushes, SU markers, quickutz die, Nestability scallop rectangle, stickles, crystal effects, Spica glitter pen
The box was very straight forward to make. Basically it was colored, positioned, adhered and sparkled and shined up.
thanks for coming by and have a great night!

Hooray to new Christmas stamps!

2007-11-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

I was so excited when I opened my mailbox and found this great new set from CCdesigns that will soon be released! They are just so adorable and fun to work with. I love the fact that they have these adorable little candy's to accessorize. There are a whole bunch of fun little sayings and so many extras that the possibilities are endless. I think that I am the most excited about this set. My first card is done in in Soft Sky, Real Red, Whisper White and Natural Ivory and Poison Ivory shimmer CS. Image was stamped using masking, and colored in with Copic Markers and the Airbrush system. Spica glitter pens were used to highlight portions. Ribbon is SU Old Olive, and all stamps are CCdesigns.
My next card has the image stamped on Watercolor paper. CS is River Rock, Chocolate Chip, and Basic Grey Fruitcake DP. Image was created with masking and colored in with re-inkers. Glitter was applied to different jellies. Glitter is all Art Institute Glitter in different colors. Crystal effects was applied to the tops of chocolates to simulate the ganash that is at the top of a truffle. Ribbon is May Art and all stamps are CCdesigns.

Lastly this box was created from the template on Flaxy Chick's Blog. I didn't quite get the template to work so I tweaked it to make a tab to join the sides without a gap. CS is Kraft CS, Real Red, Au Cerise DP and Poison Ivory shimmer CS. The panels of the image were cut with the Wizard Nestablilities. Image was colored with Copic Markers, Airbrush system. White applique or puffy white stuff ( can't think of the proper name) was used for the Santa hat and a candy cane was popped on the hand and highlighted with diamond stickles. Ribbon is May Art and all stamps are CCDesigns.

Taking a Break

2007-10-31T23:20:00.000-04:00

I know I have been neglecting my Blog shamefully! Unfortunately I needed a break. For now I am running solo at home. My husband has started his training for his next tour to Afghanistan which means that before his 6 month tour, he will be gone for another 4-5 months of build-up training! This of course is a time of adjustment for myself. I have to do everything on my own, and it so far has not left much time for anything else. To give you an example, I had two classes at the local library which I was conducting. On the Monday, unable to get a sitter, I had to bring the kids with me. My daughter took my class while my son decided it would be fun to run off with pieces of peoples projects. Working on essentials in the evenings has been my focus and only now am I able to play a bit! Today's two cards are made with CCdesigne stamps. I can't tell you how cute and wonderful these stamps are. I can't get enough of them, and I can't wait to start showing you some of the cute Christmas stuff. I know, I know, others are doing Christmas, but somehow it seemed wrong until Halloween was at least over. For these two cards, I chose fun bright colors again. I realize that these are not my usual color schemes, but every now and then you have to push beyond yourself. I find they remind me very much of the colors used for girls rooms and bedding now days.
Recipe:
stamps: CCdesigns, Karen Foster Formal Snap stamps mini
Paper : Daisy D's DP, Memory Box, Bazzill, Opulent Orchid
Other : Cuttlebug folder, Quickutz tag, May Art ribbon, Copic Markers, Spica gold glitter pen

Most of the supplies can be found at All That Scraps.

This second card was another fun one.

Recipe:

Stamps: CCdesign stamps, SU Fancy Flexible Phrases

Paper: Daisy D's DP, Almost Amethyst, Barely Banana, Poison Ivory shimmer CS

Other: Copic Markers, Nestability Oval and classic scallop oval, White brads, May Art satin ribbon, Ranger Distress Ink in Tea Dye, Cuttlebug Tag, Copic Markers

Well this is what I have to show you tonight. I hope that you can all have patience with me in the next while as I am really struggling to get lots of stuff done on my own. I will try to leave the comments that I can, and post when I can, but may not be doing so regularly. Thanks so much and have a great day!