Saturday Sketch Challenge

Each Saturday Amy at My Creative Clutter posts a card sketch. In honor of some cooler California weather, I inked up this Sugar Nellie Splashing Maggie stamp. It is one of the six that I won over at the Sugar Bowl last month. I found this rain cloud paper in a DCVW spring stack. It took me a few tries to color it. I added a little crosshatching with a dark grey pencil to the underside of the umbrella and some white lines to the top of the umbrella to give it a little more dimension. Amy's card sketch is shown below. Be sure to hop on over and check out her blog!

Recipe for this card:

Stamp: Sugar Nellie Splashing Maggie

Papers: Stampin Up: Bashful Blue, DCVW Spring Stack

Embellies: Prima flowers, brads

Prismacolor pencils: PC949, PC904, PC917, PC993, PC1086, PC1022, PC927, PC1040, PC1058, PC948, PC936

Thanks for visiting,

Summer Sweetness

I finally had time to put together a few cards for the Splitcoast Stampers WishRAK September card challenges. This card was made for the color challenge. The colors were barely banana, certainly celery, and real red. You had the option to throw in some regal rose and old olive. I didn't have all of those colors, but they said to just use something as close as you can. The only restriction is that you must use something received from Wish RAK. I used some certainly celery cardstock I received from Wish RAK a while back. I used some prima colors that were close to barely banana instead of cardstock.

This image is from High Hopes and is called Summer Sweetness. I colored it with prismacolor pencils and gamasol. I think I am going to stick with my prismas for a while instead of investing in copics. I have been reading about copic coloring techniques and figure I can do the same thing with my prismas. I just need to practice. So for now, no copics.

Recipe for this card:

Stamp: High Hopes Summer Sweetness

Papers: Stampin Up: Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Regal Rose; Red paper from stash; Debbie Mumm: Pink Java (watermelon printed paper)

Tools: Tonic Studios: ticket corner punch

Embellies: Polka dot ribbon from stash, Prima flowers, brads

Prismacolor pencils: PC1030, 0C993, E1086, PC988, PC916, PC909, PC989, PC 925, PC947, PC941, PC927

Thanks for visiting,

Baby Sittin'

Here is card for the September Wish Rak challenge. I barely made the deadline this month. This was a sketch challenge. The Wish RAK item I used was the Baby Sittin' image from High Hopes. I ran the white cardstock through the cuttlebug with the swiss dots embossing folder. The polka dot ribbon is from Michael's. The skittles are clear decorative accents that I got from Michael's and dyed with alcohol inks.

Happy Stamping

Halloween Inspiration!

I found this Studio G jack-o-lantern stamp in a bin of stamps at Michael's a few weeks ago. I bought a few of these stamps for the small sentiments that came with them. I find a number of them fit inside my EK Success word window punch. You can't beat the price at $1 each.

For these cards I used the same basic sketch and just changed the placement of the sentiment and image a little. The circles were cut using my Cricut and then I stamped the jack-o-lantern image in the center. My daughter colored them with prismacolor pencils. For the middle card, I ran the orange paper through my Cuttlebug with the Boo To You embossing folder. The third card was made with scraps of DSP paper.

Happy stamping,

89 Day Until Christmas - Are You Ready?

Christmas is almost here. Can you believe it? It seems like the year has flown by. I decided to set a jump start on some Christmas cards since I got my cards for the troops project done. This stamped image is called Santa Collage. I used some bashful blue Stampin Up cardstock for the base. The silver paper is from a store called Paper Plus. We have one about 45 miles from here and they carry a wide variety of envelopes and Neenah solar white cardstock. This metallic comes in a variety of metallic colors and you get 50 sheets to a package. It is a better buy than the Stampin Up brushed Silver. I ran the piece of silver cardstock through the cuttlebug with the snowflake folder. (I love my cuttlebug. It is definitely one of my best investments.)

Anyways ladies - Christmas will be here before we know it so why not get started on those holiday cards now!

Have a great weekend,

hÄnglar & stÄnglar Stamped Images Up For Grabs - Winner will be chosen on October 31st at 9 p.m.

**Open until 9pm October 31, 2009**

Since I never got around to offering a September blog candy I have decided to offer some very hard to get stamped images for the October blog candy. These images are from a Swedish line called hÄnglar & stÄnglar. The company does not ship the stamps outside of Sweden or Norway. I was able to obtain these stamped images from an individual in the United Kingdom. They are stamped on a UK brand of cardstock using Stazon black ink. The lucky winner will receive one each of 26 stamped images.


You can enter as many times as you like, however there are two requirements. 1) You must either be a follower of this blog “or” leave a link on your blog to me – and 2) Leave me a message on this post to say you have done it – simple right?

The winner will be picked at random on the night the candy closes. I will attempt to email the winner via their blog. If I am unable to email the winner and they do not contact me within 72 hours the winner will forfeit their prize and I will choose another winner at random.

Who will the lucky winner be?

I Like Markers

Well I don't really know if I like markers yet or not, but I have been spending a lot of time researching Copic markers this week. I stumbled across this great blog with TONS of useful information and techniques about Copic markers. It is called I Like Markers. The author Marianne Walker is a product specialist for Copic markers. If you are a beginner, like me, I suggest starting at the oldest post and working forward.

Go check it out!

The Big One

I am becoming a bigger fan of digital images. I found this image at Mo's Digital Pencil. It is called "The Big One." It is a great image for Fall cards. I ran a piece of burgundy cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the Autumn Type folder. It went perfectly with this piece of paper from my box of scraps. It is hard to tell from the picture but I did color his head a pale yellow to show a hint of hair. Be sure to check out Mo's Digital Pencil. She is always adding new image!

Thanks for visiting,

Copic vs Prismacolor Pencils - What's Your Take?

I am interested in learning what everyone's favorite coloring medium is for their stamped images. When I first began card making I went with the prismacolor pencils and gamasol. Then the gamasol kind of went out the window and I started coloring with just the pencils and a blending pencil. I would like a more vibrant look to my images and have been thinking about investing a few copic markers. They seem like they make be a little difficult to use at first, but the images I have seen colored with them look so nice. My question for today is what is your favorite coloring medium to use and why?

Non-Traditional Christmas Colors

Good afternoon ladies - I thought I would share another one of the cards I will be sending off this week for the troops to have to send home to their loved ones. This card was also part of the Labor Day Wish RAK challenge over at SCS. The challenge was to make a Christmas card without using red, green or blue. My four-year-old niece Alyssa was here helping and she loves pink so of course we had to make alot of pink cards. Again, I tried to keep it simple so I could easily make 10 or 12 of the same card.

Thanks for visiting,

Fall Cards

My blog has been getting neglected the last few weeks. I have been working on cards to send in to the Labor Day cards for the troops challenge over at SCS. They have to be postmarked by September 26. My goal was to make 100 cards and as of right now I am only at 70. I have been looking for very simple cards to make and have came up with these two for the Thanksgiving theme. Hopefully I will get back to my regular cards after this week.



Thanks for visiting,

New Blog Candy Winner Announced!

I think a fair amount of time has passed for Sande to claim her prize and since I have been unable to contact her I have decided to draw a new winner. The new lucky winner for the August group of stamped images is:

Vicki

Vicki, please email me your mailing information and I will get your batch of Gorjuss Girls on their way!

Halloween Is On Its Way

Can you believe it is already September and soon to be Halloween? This is my first card for Halloween. I used the Cuttlebug spider web embossing folder with a piece polka dot Halloween paper. The scalloped circles and circle are both cut with Nestabilities dies. I finished it off with a piece of black grossgrain ribbon and this little spider charm.

Thanks for visiting,

Tent Topper Card

Here is one of the cards that I will be donating to our servicemen and women. It is my first try at a tent topper card. It was a nice change from the normal card. The cupcake image is from Stampin Up Crazy for Cupcakes. The scalloped circle is cut with a Nestabilities die in my Cuttlebug. The finished card measures 5 1/2 by 5 1/2.

Thanks for visiting. I hope to have my next blog candy up in the next few days.

Just Magnolia Week 21 - Mina's Sketch

I finally had time to make another card. I received this adorable Tilda with ladybug image from a Wish RAK member. I followed Mina's sketch for the Just Magnolia Week 21 challenge. This week's prize is a $25 gift certificate to Simon Say's Stamps.

The card base is made with Neenah Solar White cardstock. I was using Georgia Pacific cardstock for the bases but the Neenah seems to be a little stiffer - although alot more expensive (About $20 a ream compared to the $6 or $7 for Georgia Pacific). I still use the Georgia Pacific for stamping my images on. The little ladybug brads are from the Eyelet outlet and the heart shaped buttons are from the sewing section at Walmart.

If you get a chance check out all the design team cards at Just Magnolia. They are some very talented ladies.

Giraffe Baby Card

I found an adorable giraffe gift bag at the dollar store today for my baby shower gift and decided to make a card to go with it. (Yes I originally made the Cheeky Bear card for the baby shower, but how could I resist making another card.) I picked up this giraffe print ribbon from Michael's along with this set of Reflections clear stamps. I paired it with a few Stampin' Up papers and some nestabilities dies. I ran the rust colored nestie through the cuttlebug with the tiny mosaic folder. Inside is a sentiment I received from Glenda on Wish RAK that says "One little baby, many happy hearts."

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. I will be participating the Card for the Troops challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers this weekend and hope to have many new cards to show you.

Winner of August Blog Candy Announced

First let me say a big thank you to everyone who entered my first drawing for a set of stamped imaged. It is time to announce the lucky winner. This month's winner is:

Sande

Please email me your address and I will get your images off in the mail.

For the rest of you -- check back later this week as I will be posting another batch of images for September.