Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Coolest ever!

Hello! I read in a forum recently that K&Company had some nice Christmas designer paper out this year. Well, I went out on Sunday and found a pack that was 40% off at Micheal's - can't beat that! Here's what I did with some of the paper.

The sentiment is from The coolest Snowman that's a retired set from The Angel Company. The snowflake is also retired and is from the set called Christmas postage. The tiny flake is from Stamps by Judith. All of these are stamped in pigment inks from Colorbox Q set of blues.

The smaller snowflakes on the top right are done with a MS punch and a diamond rhinestone from Kaisercraft was used in the center of each. The other is cut from a Sizzix die and then smothered with white glitter. Nestabilitie circle dies used to cut out the circles and a white gel pen was used on the scallops. Blue cardstock is from PTI.

The Mojo Monday sketch was used for this card. What do you think?

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Crow Country

Hi everyone!

I played along in the inspiration challenge over at SCS yesterday. The site that you were to visit to be inspired by is The Country Porch. There are some very nice things at this site and a lot to inspire you!

Here's what I chose to make a card around. It's these Curtains in the top left hand corner and you'll see the crow that's right under it that also caught my eye.


The designer paper is from Paper Pizazz called Stripes, Checks and Dots. I took a chipboard button and covered it with the same dp. The star is cut from a Sizzix die and colored with a Copic marker and then dots were added using a white gel pen. Added some black pine branch punches to go with the vine and popped it up on the card. I used hemp twine to make the bow on the button.

The crow stamp is from Plum Purdy and the vine is from SU. I have no idea what set it came from as I purchased the individual stamp off of Ebay years ago.

Nestabilities used to cut out the label and the long rectangle.

I had a lot of fun going country when making this card. It's almost CAS but with the dimensionals on the lower left side I think it makes it stand out a bit. What do you think?

Friday, November 26, 2010

Butterfly thank you!

Here's my creation for the Wednesday Flutter by challenge, which you can find here!


This retired stamp is from The Angel Company's 2003/2004 catty and is called Buggy Postage. I did alter the stamp a bit and took out the "joy" that was just above the wings. Sentiment is from PTI.

Designer paper is from the scrap booking section (long gone, I think) from Current Magazine. I distressed the edge of the blue dp with a pair of scissors. Black cardstock used as the card base and layers.

Colored with Copic markers in the following: YR02,YR04,YR07, G21,G24,B0000,B00, B02,C00, and C1. I decided to use the SCS sketch from this past week as a starting point. I did twist it up a bit and made it a A2 card instead of a square card.

Have a great weekend!

Christmas Penguin

Hello! I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! I completed this card for the Wednesday sketch challenge over on SCS.



This darling penguin is a GWP (gift with purchase - spend $30 and get this for free) stamp from The Angel Company.

I colored him with a black and orange glaze gel pen and the red is just a normal gel pen. The designer paper is from Kaisercraft and it's layered with black cardstock. The card measures 4.25 square.

I don't venture out on Black Friday unless it's for groceries. I'd rather do most of my shopping over the internet in my PJ's!

Thanks for stopping by! Good luck in your shopping adventures if you're going out today!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Poinsettia #1

Greetings! Did you see that the Northwest made the national news with the Blizzard that blew threw? Wowza - that was something! It made me feel like I was in Alaska again! However, nothing like a few snow days to get the creative juices flowing and get some cards made.

Poinsettia's have to be my favorite Christmas staple! I have a lot of stamps of poinsettias too! Here is my newest stamp by Memory Box. It's stamped onto the designer paper (also by Memory Box) and colored with Copic Markers. I added some yellow pearls from Kaisercraft to the center.

I sponged on some Antique linen distress ink around the designer paper. I love that its really subtle and makes the dp blend in a bit with the kraft cardstock. Ivory cardstock was used for the base of this card.

The ribbon is colored with the same shades of red that I used in the poinsettia. The bow easy was used to tie that fab bow. I prefer to color satin ribbon with Copic's, as it stiffens the ribbon up a bit and makes tying a bow a lot easier!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Victorine Originals Christmas Challenge

If your looking for the Paperwings TAC Tag blog hop, it's one post down.

Hey there! Time to show you a few cards what the design team created with stamps from Victorine Originals using Christmas as our theme!


This is probably my favorite stamp that Vicki carries for Christmas! I just love the expression on Santa's face. It's almost looks like he knows that you haven't been 100% good this year, but he'll leave you a gift anyway! LOL!

I stamped him in black on creme cardstock. I used the deckled nestabilities to cut him out and then used distress inks to vintage it up around the edges. The designer paper is from Memory box and the black rhinestones from Kaisercraft. I used white satin ribbon and colored it with a copic marker that matched the colors in the dp and tied it on the top using a bow easy.


This next one uses the poinsettia stamp and it's colored with Copic Markers. I did cut this out and pop it up using foam tape. The sentiment and cardstock are all from PTI.

I really struggled finding a bow to put in the middle of this card. I tried so many different solid colors but nothing seem to be what I was looking for. I ended up buying some of this green and red plaid at Joann's. It's still not 100%, but it'll do. What do you think?

Please stop by the VO Blog and participate in our Christmas theme challenge. You could be the lucky winner of a 30% off coupon at Victorine Originals.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

TAG Blog Hop

Hello everyone! The TAC Angels over at Paperwings are doing a Blog Hop featuring tags. What fun and who doesn't need some Christmas tags this time of year - or tags for wrapping gifts anytime of the year.

Here is my creation, which uses one of the tags that is included in TAC's paper collections.

This is actually a card holder that holds about 3 cards with envelopes for gift giving.

The paper collection is from TAC's Emma line and the cardstock is from one of the Caboodles collections. The sentiment is from Savvy Sayings and stamped in Memento rich cocoa. I added a brown rhinestone to the top center of the tag. A piece of green grosgrain ribbon is tied to keep it closed.

Here's what it looks like open.

I guess I better show you the birthday card that I tucked into this as well.

Sentiment is from Thinking of you stamp set. Flowers are from Simple starters and stamped in white ink. The small piece of brown cardstock tucked in the middle of the card is from my scrap pile. I added three tiny gold pearls to bling this up a bit. I personally think this card is rather blah and almost didn't show it!

Here are the rest of the Angels that are participating in the hop. Please stop by each of their blogs and leave some love!

Rita W - http://ritascreativenest.com
Lisa - http://lisadwb-blessedbeyondmeasure.blogspot.com/
Shirley H - http://glitteredpaws.blogspot.com
Teresa J - http://mamapickle.blogspot.com/
Julie R - http://juliesstamppad.blogspot.com
Chelsea - http://inkystamps.blogspot.com
Tina - http://card-i-ology.blogspot.com
Carol N - http://stampincarol.blogspot.com/
Laura - http://thecraftysister.com

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Butterfly in flight

Hey everyone! Here's a card I completed (late, but it's done) for the Flutter by Wednesday challenge. This one was a sketch challenge, which was fun to work with!

The butterfly stamp is from Magenta and colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended with OMS. I cut it out and popped it up using some small squares of foam tape. The wings are slightly bent to look like it's in flight. I doubt you can tell in the photo, but it looks great IRL.

That yummy designer paper is from Washi Accents that I bought in a big sheet at a stamp show this past year. It's double sided and worked really well for this card....I've been hoarding it forever!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Mini bag gift card holder

Hello - You might have seen this featured on SCS awhile back. I thought it was darling and just had to try to make it. Needless to say this was my second attempt. Does that ever happen to you? The first one looks like crap, but you stick with it till you get it right? snort!

Green cardstock is from Papertrey Ink. The leaf swirl stamp and the happy birthday sentiment are from Victorine Originals. I used Palette Jardin Moss to stamp everything in.

The leaf cut out is from Sizzix and works really well behind the paper flower. That flower is made of Coffee filters and cut from the Tim Holtz tattered florals alterations die. I used distress inks in scattered straw and spiced marmalade and swiped them directly onto my craft sheet. Spritzed with water and dipped them in inks and let dry. The center is a clear button that I colored with a copic marker. Lime green rhinestones were added for some bling.

To get the fancy end on the sentiment flag I used the cornice border punch from Martha Stewart crafts.

So what do you think of my second attempt at this gift card holder? I wont show you the first one as I filed it away in the round bin pretty quickly.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you come back on Sunday for two posts that you wont want to miss. First up is a Christmas card showcase for Victorine Originals and a tag blog hop that a few TAC Angels are doing.

-Laurie

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Peony

Good morning! It was rather windy here last night (45 mph wind gusts) that had the power out several times and prevented me from posting this last night.

Here's a quick card made with the Peony stamp set from The Angel Company.

The peony is colored with Copics, however I'm not all that excited about my coloring job on this one - it just blah to me. I think it needs to come shading, what do you think?

Designer paper is from the Gossamer line from Memory Box. Pink and green Bazzill cardstock was used to layer. Scallops done with the Quickutz cookie cutter dies.

Have a wonderful day!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Deck the Halls Blog Hop

Hello everyone! It's time again to follow along with some very talented TAC Angels as we show you some creative inspiration centered around Christmas.


Here is my project! The stamps are from the new set Reindeer Food!


This cute little guy and his hoof prints are colored with Copic markers. Xmas red stickles are used on his nose.

I found the test tubes at Micheal's on clearance and thought it would be fun to fill with Oatmeal as "Reindeer Food" to showcase this great little set!

The tags are cut from the Spellbinders tags nestabilities set and tied on with Raffia. Vintage photo distress ink is sponged around the edges.

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to visit the other Angel's blogs to see what creative inspiration that they came up with.



Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Snowman Bling

Hello everyone! Here's another card I created with last month's TAC stamp of the month, Jingle Jolly.

The snowman hat, scarf and mittens is colored in Copic markers using B95 and B97. I added some white sparkly glitter for the fluff in his hat and on his scarf.

Blue card stock is embossed with the snowflake CB folder and then spritzed with Shimmer spray.
The white satin ribbon is colored with Copic's and it appears in the photo that the blue bow is darker than the strip is. How weird. They match IRL.

Quick card, but fun and sparkly!

Enjoy your day! Don't forget to stop by either Friday or Saturday to check out the next TAC blog hop titled "Deck the Hall's." I've created something fun to share!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

TDS Farewell

Toni owner of The Digi Shack has made decision to move towards a FREE digi site so there's really no need to continue with the design team. I wanted to post a last card to say goodbye and thanks for the memories! It's been a lot of fun these last 10 months!

The apple barrel will become a free digital image for you to use once she makes the changes over at TDS. I colored it with Copic markers.

Now to the leaves in the background. They are cut from acetate (I save it from all the stamps sets that come on it) with the leaf dies from Papertrey ink. I colored them with alcohol ink in fall colors. This was so much fun to play around with!

The designer paper is from DCWV old world stack. I really like how this card turned out - so fallish! What do you think?

So, farewell and good luck to Toni and The Digi Shack! Take care!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Victorine Originals Color Challenge

Hello everyone! Victorine Originals has posted a color combo challenge over at the VO blog. There will be 3 entries picked and one "winner" who will win 30% off an order at Victorine Originals.

So, here's my take on the color challenge.

Flower bunch stamp is from Victorine Originals and is stamped using the Copic Marker watercolor technique. Using Copic markers color directly on the stamp and then spritz with rubbing alcohol and stamp onto watercolor paper.

The inside image is done using the huff method with normal markers.

The sentiment comes from Papertrey Ink and is stamped in Palette Noir. The yellow designer paper is from Making Memories and is layered with black cardstock from PTI. I added some pearls for the centers of the flowers and in the corners of the layers.

Please visit Victorine Originals blog (link above) to see what the other designers came up with. Feel free to play along as well!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Stamped Jewelry

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a great weekend. It's raining and really dreary here today so it's a good time for me to catch up on some blog posts.

I wanted to share with you the Pendant that I sent into TAC that got lost in the shuffle and Mischelle was asking about. Well, here it is...



It's a Patera pendant that you fill with sculpty or primo white clay. You stamp whatever image you want in Black Stazon and bake it according to the directions on the clay package. It's important to get the clay as even or as flat as possible inside the pendant before stamping.

After letting it cool down a bit I colored it using chalks and then applied some Glossy Accents over the entire pendant to seal it. The pendant above used the Watercolor Plants stamp from TAC.



What I like about using the Patera pendants is that they come in different shapes and sizes. I've even made a few sets of earrings.

Stamps used on the above pendants:
Left Heart - Done mostly with Studio G dollar stamps from Micheal's.
Middle Pendant - Victorine Originals. I just recently sent this on to Vicki as a Birthday present.
Rigth Heart - TAC Vintage Background and Studio G dollar stamps

All colored with chalks prior to adding the Glossy Accents. I added a few decorative beads to the black cording on two of the pendants.

These are pretty easy to do, but time consuming with the baking and letting the Glossy Accents dry, but so worth it!

So what do you think?

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Beary Blue

Hello everyone! We are having such wonderful weather here in Seattle. I can't believe it was 73 degrees today and we set two records this week. Monday we had record breaking rain amounts and today was the warm temps. Go figure!

So with that in mind, how about a winter card?

This cute little guy is from TAC's fall supplement called Cuddly Christmas. I gotta say that this set has some great images and sentiments - one of my favorite new Holiday sets!!!

The bear is colored with Copic markers in shades of blue, except for his boots which were done in grays (duh). The dots on his scarf are liquid pearls in White Opal. Love how this looks!

Designer paper is from my Christmas stash (the strip on top of the blue scallops) and I have no idea who it's from. Scallops were cut with the Quikutz cookie cutter die.

The white is embossed with the 5x7 polka dot embossing folder from Provo Craft. Tied on some skinny satin ribbon, did a double bow and called it good. What do you think?

Have a great week!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

TDS Showcase - Happy Mail

Hey everyone! Here's another image I want to showcase from The Digi Shack and it's only $1!


The sentiment is a stamp from Artful Inkables. Mail box is colored with Copic's. I tried a new background technique (for me anyway) around the image and I'm not sure if I like it or not. What do you think?

MS cornice punch used on the right hand side of the card. All but the black cardstock is from Bazzill.

Added the black self adhesive rhinestones (Kaisercraft) at the last minute and I like how looks!

Thanks for stopping by and I'm celebrating that the elections are over with! Thank goodness we don't have to watch anymore political commercials! I'm so sick of politicians telling me what the other candidate has done or not done. Tell me what YOU are going to do!!!! Think about all that money spent on advertising - we could have paid down the national debt with it! Ok - sorry about my mini rant there! Have a great day!