Saturday, February 28, 2015

Happy Spring!


 Today's card is simple, yet colorful and fun at the same time. It features an adorable new stamp set from Simon Says Stamp's Hop To It release, as well as some simple Copic coloring.

I started by stamping out the girl, the bear and the flower from Abby's Spring Showers stamp set onto some marker paper. I colored them in with my Copics, keeping the coloring very simple. I then carefully cut around them and set them aside.

I created a top-folding A2 card base (4¼ by 5½") from some light gray cardstock. I then grabbed my Bigshot and die-cut a large circle of cute patterned paper. I then lined up the curved A2 edge die at the bottom and ran it through my Bigshot again. This created a horizon of sorts for my scene.

I adhered the patterned paper straight onto the card. I stamped the sentiment at the bottom in black ink. I arranged the colored images and adhered them to the card. Then, I stamped two small hearts in pink ink.

The card was missing something, so I hand-drew a dotted border under the sentiment and added two enamel dots.

Since this card fits the Work It Wednesday theme (spring), I will be entering the challenge.
 


Supplies:
Simon Says Stamp - Abby's Spring Showers
Lawn Fawn - Hello Sunshine Petite 6x6 (retired)
My Favorite Things - Black Licorice hybrid ink
Simon Says Stamp - Curved A2 Edge die
Lawn Fawn - Wild Rose ink
Copics (E00, E11, E13, E15, R20, E35, E57, E59, Y11, Y35, B02, B05, E25, E27, E29, E53, E33, R22, R35, YG06, YR17, E07, R59)
Black gel pen
Enamel Dots

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Get Well Flower



I've got another get-well card for today. It's a very simple little card, but happy enough to cheer up the person who's feeling sick.

I started by die-cutting the delicate flowers from Simon Says Stamp's Fresh Daisies die out of white cardstock. I used a couple of Copics to add a touch of color to it. While I had my Bigshot out, I die-cut a scalloped rectangle out of some yellow striped paper.

I wanted the sentiment to be subtle, so I cut a strip of vellum. I stamped the sentiment from Clearly Besotted's Sweet Little Sentiments in Versamark ink. I embossed it in white with the Hero Arts white embossing powder.

I attached the vellum to the front panel with a combination of adhesive and a simple brad. I then adhered the flower with Tombow liquid glue. I added the card to a light gray card base with foam tape.

As a last touch, I adhered a few gold sequins from Simon's Sparkle and Shine mix.

Supplies:
Simon Says Stamp - Fresh Daisies die
Clearly Besotted - Sweet Little Sentiments stamp
Tsukineko Versamark inkpad
Copics (YR01, YG00, 0)
Mama Elephant - Femme Frames
Bazzill #40lbs Vellum
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid glue
Hero Arts White Embossing powder
WPlus9 Cardstock in Dove Gray
Neenah Solar White #80lbs cardstock
Simon Says Stamp - Sparkle and Shine sequins

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Flickr Challenge: Feel Better

Today's card was created for the new Simon Says Stamp and Lawn Fawn Flickr co-challenge. The theme is Kraft, and since I'm a big fan of Kraft, I knew I just had to enter. So, I grabbed my Lawn Fawn and Simon goodies and got creative.

I started by creating my card base by cutting and folding a piece of Khaki cardstock into a standard A2 card (4¼ by 5½"). Then I pulled out my Bigshot and die-cut my front panel out of Kraft cardstock, using a stitched rectangle. While I had my Bigshot out, I also die-cut the scalloped rectangle from Lawn Fawn's Hello Sunshine petite paper. I used the banner die from Stitched Journaling Card to cut a couple of banners.

I stamped the bird nurse from Lawn Fawn's Get Well Soon in the bottom left corner of the panel with Dark Chocolate ink. I masked her off, then stamped the little prescription bottle. I used my Prismacolor pencils to color the two images and scribbled a quick ground/shadow underneath them.

For the sentiment, I used Simon Says Stamp's More Sketchy Banner Greetings stamp set. I stamped it in the same chocolate ink.

I adhered the scalloped rectangle to the card base, then added the kraft panel with foam tape. I adhered the two banners just under the sentiment. As a last touch, I added a light gray enamel dot.

Supplies:
Lawn Fawn - Get Well Soon stamp
Simon Says Stamp - More Sketchy Banner Greetings stamp
Simon Says Stamp - Khaki cardstock
Simon Says Stamp - Inkpad in Dark Chocolate
Neenah Desert Storm #80lbs cardstock
Lawn Fawn - Hello Sunshine Petite 6x6 (retired)
Lawn Fawn - Wild Rose Line Dance 12x12 paper
Mama Elephant - Femme Frames die
Lawn Fawn - Stitched Journaling Card die
Prismacolor pencils
3M Double-sided Foam Tape
Tombow Craft Dot Adhesive runner (pink)
Enamel Dot

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Bun in the Oven

 Today's card is a really sweet and very simple card that features Lawn Fawn's Plus One stamp set. For this card, I'm making use of some supplies I found while cleaning my crafty closet. The note-card and paper scraps really caught my eye, so I decided to make good use of them.

I started by stamping the cute oven and coloring it in with my Copics. I did very simple shading with pinks and grays, then I carefully cut it out, leaving a small white border.

I die-cut the yellow star paper into a stitched circle shape using Stitched Party Banners die.

The watercolor note-card made the perfect card base. I added a scrap strip of patterned paper just to tie in the pink from the oven, and adhered it straight onto the card. I adhered oven to the the stitched circle and added them to the card with foam squares.

For the sentiment, I went simple and stamped it onto a small white rectangle. I then rounded the top corners of the rectangle so it looked a bit like an oven door. I adhered the sentiment to the card, and voila!

Supplies:
Lawn Fawn - Plus One stamp set
Lawn Fawn - Stitched Party Banners die
My Favorite Things - Hybrid Ink in Black Licorice
Watercolor note-card
Copics (R81, R85, C4, C6, E33, E35, E49)
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam squares

Sunday, February 15, 2015

OHC 90 - Universe



Today's card is another one in my One Hundred Cards challenge (read about it here). This time, I'm tackling theme 90 - Universe. When I pulled out this theme, I knew right away I wanted to do something with space. And I found the perfect sentiment stamp - WPlus9's Lucky Stars.

Though this card looks fancy, it was actually super simple -- it took less than 5 minutes!

I started by grabbing a piece of patterned paper from DCWV's Stardust paper pad. I bought this paper pad a while ago on sale, and never used it. But it's a gorgeous paper which features quite a few sky and galaxy patterns. I die-cut one of the papers with a stitched rectangle die.

I used my powder tool on the corner and stamped the sentiment from Lucky Stars in Versamark ink, then embossed it with silver embossing powder. After this, I adhered the front panel to a light gray card base.

I added a few Moonshine sequins and the card was done.

 Supplies:
WPlus9 - Lucky Stars stamp
DCWV - Stardust 12x12 paper
My Favorite Things - Blueprints 13 die
Tsukineko Versamark ink
Simon Says Stamp - Silver Detail embossing powder
Simon Says Stamp - Moonshine sequins
Ranger Studio Multi-Matte glue
Tombow Craft Dot Adhesive Runner

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Super Duper



Simon Says Stamp Flickr group is having another challenge: Sparkle! And I knew I wanted to play along.





I was really excited. I already picked out the super cute stamp set I wanted to use (Mama Elephant's Tiny Heroes) and Simon's Mini Stars dies, along with some great patterned paper. I found the perfect paper in Studio Calico's Brighton Pier 6x6 paper pad.

I stamped out the cute superhero girl and superhero kitten onto some Copic Marker paper and colored them in quickly with my Copics. I then cut out the girl with a pair of sharp scissors. I grabbed my Bigshot and die-cut a pinked circle around the kitty. I also cut a larger pinked circle out of some orange cardstock. While I had my Bigshot out, I also cut out a few black stars using Simon's Mini Stars dies.

I cut a piece of white card-stock to measure 4 by 5½". I adhered a strip of patterned  paper toward the top of the panel. Then I added in the girl and the kitten, using foam squares. The girl wasn't standing out from the orange circle too well, so I hand-drew a line around her with a white gel pen. I stamped the greeting at the bottom in black ink.

I created a standard A2 card base (4¼ by 5½") from Smoke cardstock. I adhered the front panel, then added in the black stars.

Lastly, the sparkle... I looked throughout my stash to find just the perfect sparkly bit, and that turned out to be the Moonshine sequins from Simon Says Stamp. These are the most sparkly and light-catching sequins that I own, and each pack comes with a variety of sizes. I scattered a few sequins around the card.

I added just a bit of extra sparkle with my Wink of Stella, but it didn't show in the picture (unfortunately). But between that and the super sparkly sequins, this card just shines! :)

Supplies:
Mama Elephant - Tiny Heroes stamp
Simon Says Stamp - Mini Stars dies
Avery Elle - Pinked dies
Simon Says Stamp heavyweight card-stock - Smoke
Studio Calico - Brighton Pier 6x6 patterned paper
Simon Says Stamp - Moonshine Sequins
Neenah Solar White in #110lbs
Copics
Sakura Gellyroll White Gel Pen
Ranger Studio Multi-Matte adhesive
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink - Black Licoroce
scraps of orange and black card-stock
Zig Wink of Stella - Clear

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Organization - Inks & Ink Swatches

I'm currently in the process of organizing my inks and ink swatches, so I thought I'd share how I used my inks before and what I've changed.

My old system had the inks separated by manufacturer, then the majority of it stuck in a box because I had no way to display them. And that basically just lead to a bunch of wonderful inks that never got used. It was time to fix it.

My first big project was to make an ink swatch for all of the inks I have. I actually have a variety of inks - water-based dye inks, oil-based dye inks, hybrid inks, pigment inks and distress inks. So, I needed to have one central place where I could look at the different colors I have and easily figure out what techniques I can use them with.

I saw one of Jennifer McGuire's videos on ink swatches and I thought her system would work perfectly for me. So, I bought this set of coin-collecting pocket page protectors on Amazon. I cut out 2x2" pieces of card stock to insert into each pocket, then stamped a swatch rectangle and labelled it with ink name, company and type.

What I love about this system is that I can arrange and re-arrange the swatches as well as easily take them out to compare with paper or embellishments. Visually, it's helping me quickly identify what kind of colors I'm missing (yellow and green), and makes it less tempting to cave and buy more ink pads.

Another unexpected benefit of this system is seeing the different degrees of coverage I get out of my ink pads - especially after the ink was left to dry and really soak into the paper. I was using a completely solid stamp and it took practice with several of the inks to get it to stamp smoothly and evenly. I've discovered that I need to be a lot more careful with light inks - since they're hard to see on a photopolymer stamp. I seem to have a tendency to over-ink while making sure the stamp is covered evenly, and that results in a messy, splotchy image.

Also, I've now got a new-found love for Hero Arts Shadow inks and Simon Says Stamp inks. They have the same formula and stamp really splotchy at first. But over time, they even out and you end up with a rich and smooth result after drying.

On the other hand, I was a bit under-whelmed with my hybrid inks from My Favorite Things. They work just fabulously for Copic coloring. But their solid coverage wasn't as great -- and I've got a few ink colors that I wouldn't be using for Copics necessarily. So, some of those inkpads will be going into box storage.

I'm still working my way through the archival inks from Ranger (they're oil-based) and my collection of pigment inks. I've found that some of my Memento Luxe pigment inks have already dried out, so I've thrown them out. I was very careful about how I stored them -- had them upside down and with the lid secured, so I'm not sure exactly why they dried out. But they were some of the first inks I got, and I have no idea how long they sat in a warehouse before making their way to me. I'm going to try and figure out why they dried out or if there's any products I can get to refresh them. I know that there are ink refresher sprays for dye inks, but I don't know if anything exists for pigment inks.

I recently got a low white shelf that will be sitting in the closet and holding ink pads I plan on using fairly often. I have small canvas boxes I bought on sale at my local Target that will do a good job of keeping them contained. I thought about investing in a fancy stamp storage shelf, but I really don't have enough room for it at the moment. Maybe once all of my supplies are organized, I'll think about more permanent storage. But for now, I'm going for cheaper alternatives that will help me find and display my supplies.

I also bought a few small plastic baskets like these that will hold my most-used inks -- hybrid inks for Copic coloring, distress ink pads, black and brown pigment inks for sentiments and my Versamark ink for embossing. Having a designated basket I can easily grab for a technique will be very useful.

And that's all for my ink pads and ink swatches! Next time, I will be tackling the mountains of cardstock. :)

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Snow Love


Today's card features a super sweet snowman stamp from C.C. Designs called Snow Love, from their Meoples line. Since Valentine's Day is only a week away and everything still looks completely covered with snow, I thought this stamp would be very fitting for a love card.

I started by stamping out the two cut snowmen with black ink, then colored them in with Copics. I kept he coloring super simple. I then colored in the backgrounds - soft blues for the snow and random circles for the backgrounds itself. The random circles are a great way to add color to the background while still keeping it interesting.

I die-cut the scene with a stitched journaling card die. While I had my Bigshot out, I also die-cut a darker pink "love" sentiment, as well as a scalloped rectangle of patterned paper. The patterned paper I used is Love Notes, from Crate Paper.

I made a standard A2 card base (4¼ by 5½") from light pink cardstock. Then I put the card together, adhering the different elements. I used foam tape for the center panel, and Tombow Mono-multi glue at just the top of the sentiment.

As a last touch, I added a heart paperclip to the corner of the snowman panel and a few enamel dots in the opposite corner of the card.

Supplies:
C.C. Designs - Snow Love stamp
Lawn Fawn - Stitched Journaling Card die
My Favorite Things - Hybrid Inkpad in Black Licorice
Mama Elephant - Femme Frames die
Papertrey Ink - Wet Paint Cuts
Pink Cardstock
Crate Paper - Love Notes 6x6
3M Double-Sided foam tape
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
Enamel Dots
Heart Clip
Copics (B00, B41, B45, B02, B05, B18, G14, G67, G29, Y38, YR15, YR04, E23, E59, R05, R81, R95, RV42, R11)

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Love Potion

 
I love chunky horizontal stripes. I love seeing them, I love using them and I've got quite a collection of them. In fact, while I was organizing my supplies, I found several paper pads that were bought pretty much because they had a paper with big horizontal stripes (oops!). But as much as I love them, they can be a little challenging to use.

Take today's card for example... I wanted to make a love card, so I started by creating a standard A2 card base out of some pink cardstock. Then I die-cut a bold gray&white striped panel to go on top. I adhered the two of them together and ended up with a very bold and somewhat masculine look - which wasn't quite working with the initial design I had in mind for my card.

But, I took this as a challenge and tried to come up with a way to make the card work anyway.

I started by die-cutting a piece of Lawn Fawn's Wild Rose Dance paper with the smaller Stitched Party Banners die. However, the die covered up too much of the striped paper, so I shortened it by running it through my Bigshot again with the medium Scalloped Border. While I had my Bigshot out, I also die-cut a stitched circle and a banner for my sentiment.

I stamped a flask from Science of Love in black ink just inside the stitched circle. I quickly colored it in with my Copics, creating a small halo around it with light pink and purple markers to make it stand out a little more. I added some details with my white gel pen. I stamped the swirly heart trail just above it in pink ink that matched the card base. I also stamped the sentiment in black ink and a little pink heart next to it.

I tied a piece of black satin ribbon around the top of the stitched banner panel. This added a bit of extra dramatic flair and drew attention to the panel. I adhered the white circle to the banner panel with foam tape, then added it to the card. I also added the sentiment panel, which nestled just perfectly inside one of the dark grey stripes.

Lastly, I grabbed a few sequins from Let's Polka mix. The pink and grey sequins worked just perfectly with my color scheme.

And there you have it. It's different from my original design - much more bold, but I like it just the same.

Supplies:
Lawn Fawn - Science of Love stamp
Lawn Fawn - Stitched Party Banners die
Lawn Fawn - Stitched  Scalloped Borders die
Lawn Fawn - Stitched Journaling Card die (sentiment)
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Black Licorice
My Favorite Things Blueprints 15 die
Stampin' Up Classic Inkpad in Blushing Bride
Neenah Solar White #110lbs cardstock
Avery Elle Heavyweight cardstock in Pixie
Lawn Fawn - Wild Rose Dance 12x12 paper from Let's Polka collection
Lawn Fawn Let's Polka sequin mix
Copics: B41, B05, R81, R85, R11, V01
Black Satin Ribbon 3/8"
3M Double-Sided Foam Tape
Sakura Gellyroll white gel pen
Ranger Studio Multi-Mate glue

Friday, February 6, 2015

No-lines Tobie

  For today's card, I decided to be brave and try a technique that's entirely new to me - no-line Copic coloring. I've see several gorgeous results with this technique, and I've been meaning to try it for a while now. I am using Lovey Tobie stamp from Some Odd Girl. This cute stamp is perfect for Valentine's or any sort of "love you" card.

I started by stamping Tobie with Kraft hybrid ink. This gave me a very light outline I could use as a guide for putting down my Copic colors. I then colored him in, adding some white gel pen for accent on the eyes and the hearts. The coloring was both easier and more difficult than usual. I could be a little less precise, but I also had to be very careful with outlines. I did have a tiny issue with some color bleeding near Tobie's left leg, but everything else worked out just beautifully.

After he was all colored in, I carefully cut around him with a pair of sharp scissors, leaving a small white border.

I made a standard A2 card base (4¼ by 5½") out of medium gray card stock. I then pulled out my Bigshot and die-cut a stitched rectangle out of pink patterned paper. I also die-cut a tag shape out of black dotted paper.

I adhered all the elements together with my standard adhesive. The card still needed a little something, so I stamped a few hearts with black ink and added a few enamel dots to the corner of the card.

Supplies:
Some Odd Girl - Lovey Tobie stamp
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Kraft, and Black Licorice (hearts)
My Favorite Things - Blueprints 13 die
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Duo 1 dies
Copic Mini Marker Pad 70#lbs
Simon Says Stamp Heavyweight card stock in Smoke
Studio Calico - Brighton Pier 6x6
Copics (E00, E11, E13, E15, E35, E57, E59, R22, R24, R35, R29, RV69, B41, B24, B18, YG41, YG45, BG49, B91, B95, B99, C2, BV25)
Tombow Craft Dot Adhesive Runner (pink)

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

OHC 02 - Turquoise


It's time for another entry in my One Hundred Cards challenge! If you're not familiar with this challenge, you can read about it here.

When I first pulled out theme #2 (Turquoise), I was really torn on what I wanted to do. I couldn't decide between making a card just based on the turquoise color and making a card based on the turquoise stone. So, I made two cards. The cards are very different, but have similar elements -- turquoise, brown and white colors, like the stone; and a simple/clean look.

Both of these cards use The Big, the Bold and the Happy stamp set from Winnie & Walter. If you're not familiar with Winnie & Walter, they've got some really amazing stamp sets - especially the Big/Bold series, which has several scripty words combined with a classic typewritten font.

For this first card, I went for a turquoise card base in a top-folding standard A2 size (4¼ by 5½"). I adhered a piece of striped patterned paper to the left side, then got to work on the front panel.

I cut down a piece of white cardstock to measure 3¼ by 5½". I added a touch of color with Watercolor Grid Texture stamp and Splatter I stamp from Impression Obsession. These two stamps are fantastic for adding a watercolor look, while at the same time letting you use your inkpads and be as precise as you need to with splatter placement.

I stamped the "hello" sentiment from The Big, the Bold and the Happy in brown ink, then adhered the panel to the card base. Lastly, I added a few clear sequins.

Supplies:
Winnie & Walter - The Big, the Bold and the Happy stamp
Impression Obsession - Watercolor Grid Texture stamp
Impression Obsession - Splatter 1 stamp
Heidi Swapp - September Skies 6x6 patterned paper
Simon Says Stamp Heavyweight Cardstock in Audrey Blue
Neenah Solar White cardstock in #110 lbs
Stampin' Up Classic Inkpad in Bermuda Bay and Soft Suede
Pretty Pink Posh - Sparkling Clear sequins in 6mm and 4mm.

For the second card, I drew inspiration from the the striation on turquoise stones. I really wanted to recreate this look, so I grabbed the Waves stencil from Simon Says Stamp. The thin, wavy lines would work perfectly with the effect I was hoping to achieve.

After creating a standard A2 card base (4¼ by 5½"), I grabbed my Bigshot and cut out two stitched rectangle -- one from a brown cardstock that would match the sentiment, and the other out of white cardstock. I adhered the brown rectangle straight to the card base.

I laid the Waves stencil onto the white panel and used my mini blending tool to apply Peacock Feathers distress ink to the image. After I finished, I removed the stencil and I had a lovely striated look.

I stamped the sentiment in brown ink. Although I wanted a really simple and bold card, it felt like something was missing. So, I die-cut three tiny hearts from peach paper and adhered them to the base. I used a combination of standard adhesive and foam tape.

I adhered the front panel to the card base with foam tape. And voila! Card was done.

Supplies:
Winnie & Walter - The Big, The Bold and the Happy stamp
Simon Says Stamp - Waves stencil
Simon Says Stamp Heavyweight cardstock in Audrey Blue
My Favorite Things Premium Cardstock in Peach Bellini
Paper Smooches Wise Dies - Tiny Hearts
Stampin' Up Cardstock in Soft Suede
Stampin' Up Classic Inkpad in Soft Suede
Ranger Distress Inkpad in Peacock Feathers
Ranger Mini Round Blending Tool
3M Double-sided foam tape

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Rapunzel


 Today's card features the lovely Tress stamp from The Greeting Farm. One of my favorite things to color with Copics is hair, so Tress was a definite must-have for me. And since I really liked how she turned out, I decided to take my coloring a step further and create a Copic background, too.

I started by stamping Tress onto some Copic Marker paper with hybrid black ink. I started by coloring her skin, using my go to skin combo. I then colored the little flower crown with pinks. Her outfit was two shades of purple - light for the under-dress and a darker rich for the over-dress. I added a few small details with a white gel pen.

Then I colored in her hair with a golden palette. To achieve this look, avoid any Y Copics - I know, it probably sounds odd, but bear with me. The yellows in the Y family tend to be too yellow for hair and often end up looking fake. What you want to do instead is go to the E family, and supplement with YR for a bit of extra warmth. I started with my lightest color - E50 and E53. I then switched to YR23 to deepen the colors. Lastly, I added the shadows with E23 and E37.

After Tress was colored in, I carefully cut her out with scissors.

I created my card base out of pink cardstock, but cutting and folding it into a top-folding A2 shape (4¼ by 5½"). I also cut a panel out of navy cardstock using the scalloped rectangle.

I decided to color in my own background, so I cat another piece of Copic marker paper with second largest die from Spellbinders' Labels 28. I created a grassy bottom, then a simple blue background. Lastly, I sketched in some flowers and vines to frame the top. I went for a sketchy kind of look, as a more realistic background wouldn't have fit with the stamp. I added a shadow where Tress would be standing, then adhered her down to the card.

I adhered the navy panel to the card base, then added the center panel with foam tape. As a last touch, I used my white gel pen to add a dotted white border.

Supplies:
The Greeting Farm - Tress stamp
My Favorite Things - Hybrid Ink in Black Licorice
Mama Elephant - Femme Frames die
Spellbinders - Labels 28 die
Simon Says Stamp - Heavyweight Cardstock in Cotton Candy
Simon Says Stamp - Heavyweight Cardstock in Soft Navy
Copics (E00, E11, E13, E15, R20, 0, V01, BV11, BV13, V12, V06, V17, B00, B02, R95, RV66, Y38, R35, E50, E53, YR27, E23, E37, G23, G29, YG67, B45, B18, B41, B95)
3M Double-Sided Foam Tape
Tombow Craft Dot Adhesive Runner (pink)
Sakura Gellyroll White Gel Pen