Running With Scissors…

I’ve made another card with this CTMH acrylic set, Le Chic, and the Chatterbox paper since I enjoyed it so much yesterday.  The flower has a We R Memory Keepers eyelet in the center, filled with glitter, which is a nice surprise when seen IRL.  I used the same colors as the last card, but with more Bashful Blue this time.  The ric rac is from the sewing notions department at Wal-Mart and the sentiment is one of the reasons I’m hanging on to the SU! set, Treat Yourself.

I colored the image with markers again, but this time I used Vicki Garrett’s technique that she posted today (Sunday) on her blog, Summerthyme Studio.  This link will take you directly to her wonderful tutorial on watercoloring with markers.  Please see Vicki’s tutorial for complete instructions.  Per Vicki’s directions, I stamped this time on watercolor paper with Stazon–I used Timber brown.  It’s very important to use Stazon if you’re going to apply water to it.  The SU! Basic Brown that I used yesterday is okay just for markers, alone, but it will bleed if it gets too wet.  I loved the way I could dab a little more ink on the already wet paper and it would sort of blend itself.  Thanks, Vicki, for this great idea!

I hope your Sunday was a very pleasant one, whether you’re a mother or not!  I now have a table adorned with red roses and cards and I spent the day shopping for flowers, brunching and stamping.  My husband made dinner for me, too.  He’s a very sweet guy!

I was doing a little maintenance on my computer files yesterday when I saw a card I made with this layout a couple of years ago.  It’s not much of a layout, but it occurred to me that it was a good one for this pretty Chatterbox paper, since I was loathe to cover it up.  Still, I’m sure I could have done a little more, but just this once I wanted to let the paper have it all.

I needed a main image about this size and I’ve been feeling the urge to use some of my non-SU! stamps.  They’re literally cataloged so it’s easy to find a particular image.  I’ve stamped every one of them in a notebook, separated by category, and stored them in drawers that match the category.  I have over 1000 non-SU! stamps (not many by some standards), but almost all of them are over two years old.  Some look a little dated and some I’ve never even used.  This stamp is from the CTMH acrylic set, Le Chic.  Since I just ordered some acrylic stamps from Anna I thought I might as well practice a little before they arrive.

I colored this with my SU! markers, a medium I love for images that aren’t too large.  I like the water colored look that can be achieved with the water based ink of these markers.  I don’t expect or desire a smooth look when I use them.  That’s their glory, I think, and when I realized I could take advantage of those “marker streaks” it was the beginning of a wonderful relationship.  I always stamp the outline with a waterproof ink and let it dry thoroughly so I don’t have to worry about smearing.  In this case I used SU!’s Basic Brown.

The photos below show the colored image before and after shading–before on the left, after on the right.

It’s very much like water coloring.  As you can see, I started out with just plain old coloring–Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal for the boxes, Pretty in Pink for the ribbon.  Let’s just look at the blue box first:  I chose Bordering Blue for the shading.  In the areas that I wanted a little darker I scribbled just a narrow application of ink with the fine tip of that marker.  I used the brush tip of the Bashful Blue marker to blend the two ink colors.  In some cases I pulled the ink toward the center of the image.  You have to use a light touch and lift the brush at the end of the stroke so it doesn’t look chunky, although the water colored look is very forgiving and some chunkiness is acceptable.  In some areas I just dabbed the brush tip at the shading to blend the ink.

The rest of the image is colored in the same manner, using a slightly darker marker for the shaded areas, and stroking, lifting and dabbing with the lighter colored marker.  Since this ink is wet, it’s possible to oversaturate the paper and cause pilling–another reason to use a light touch.  To shade or not to shade, it all depends on the look you want.  There’s nothing wrong with the first image; it’s rather soft and pretty.  The second image just has a little more depth for when that’s the look you’re going for.  I hope this information is useful to someone.  I’ve been asked before how I managed to get this look from my markers, so I thought it would be nice to share that information here for others who might be wondering the same thing.  Have a great rest of the weekend!

I’ve been carrying the makin’s for this card back and forth to work with me most of the week, trying to finish it on my breaks, not feeling much like stamping in the evenings.  It’s slow going, trying to get my stamping done this way, especially since I often spend a good portion of my breaks standing in line at the coffee shop.  I finally got all the parts done, though, and finished putting them together tonight.

This is a shaker card, but it shakes only enough to add a little audio interest.  I decided to fill the whole well with these colorful seed beads as a different sort of way to color the rose.  The photos below show some of the shaker parts (craft foam, acetate and cover) and a closer view of the shaker window.  I always cut my shaker base from craft foam.  A 2 mm thickness is enough to accomodate seed beads or anything smaller and adds no more bulk to the card than dimensional foam tape.  The innards won’t stick to the craft foam, either, as with foam tape.

To make this card I first stamped the rose on a white panel and cut it out with my Exacto knife.  I covered the panel with the SU! Petal Patch paper and trimmed out the rose opening again.  I’ll only cut one or two layers at a time with my Exacto knife because I think it’s easier to get an accurate cut that way and, frankly, it’s easier on my fingers.  The Small Sayings sentiment was then Stamp-A-Ma-Jigged in place.  Next, I cut a piece of craft foam slightly smaller than the paper covered panel, put the two pieces together and traced the rose opening onto the craft foam with a fine tip Sharpie.  I used my Exacto knife to cut the craft foam just slightly outside the rose outline — this assures that none of the craft foam will show through the window.  Using Jet Black Stazon, I stamped the rose on an acetate square and adhered it behind the paper panel, fitting the rose in the opening.  I stamped the leaves on Whisper White, colored them with markers, cut them out and glued them in place.  I did a little sponging with Certainly Celery around the edges of the panel and the window opening and then tied the ribbon in place.

To assemble it I used a lot of Sticky Strip (red liner tape).  I mailed a shaker once that arrived at its destination in disassembled parts with the shaker beads loose like confetti in the envelope.  That was not cool!  Thanks to the Sticky Strip I’ve never had one fall apart since then.  Every layer of this card is put together with Sticky Strip.  I layered Bashful Blue on Basic Black first, then adhered the craft foam shaker base on top of that.  I filled the well with beads, spreading them into a single layer and covering as much of the “floor” as possible.  Before I put the cover on, I rubbed my Embossing Buddy over the acetate to eliminate the static electricity that causes the beads to jump out of the well.  Boy, did I ever learn this the hard way!  What a mess I had the first time I made a shaker!  Okay, it’s done…except that I also lined the inside with Whisper White wheeled with a Celery Fine Foliage border.

Have a happy weekend, Mother’s Day, or whatever you’ve got going on!  I’ll be having some family time, doing some baking and gardening and, if I’m lucky, maybe even a little stamping!

Well, I don’t have any…but Libby @ Libby’s Little Addiction does!  This is the perfect opportunity to visit her blog.  I found it when I was in the process of adoring one of her cards on Splitcoaststampers and I’ve been visiting regularly ever since.  I thoroughly enjoy the wit and charm and enthusiasm of her posts.  She’s having such a good time and it’s infectious!  The link above takes you directly to her blog candy where you can leave a comment at the end of it, but while you’re there be sure and look around a bit.  I get such a kick out of her!  She’ll be doing her drawing on Sunday the 13th at 9:00 pm.

While we’re talking candy, you’d better hurry if you want a chance at what Lindsey’s giving away on her blog, Embellished.  Lindsey’s always got something wonderful to look at and fun things going on with her stamping endeavors.  She’s got some pretty darn cute pictures of her boys, too!  She’ll be drawing a random winner on Wednesday evening, the 9th.  Yikes!  You don’t have much time left!

Thank you, Libby and Lindsey, for sharing your time and offering up these fabulous treats!

Tuesdays sure seem to come back around quickly.  Before I know it, it’s time for my day with BasicGrey Stella Ruby paper again.  Gosh, I hope my whole life isn’t going by that fast!  I catch myself sometimes during the work week when I’m wishing for the weekend–every day that goes by is one I can’t get back so I have to remind myself to savor something about that day.  Even though I had a hectic day at work, I did spend two breaks outside soaking up the sunshine.  The moment I stepped outside, away from the craziness, it was just reflexive to turn my face to the sun and smile.  Tonight I dallied with one of my favorite pastimes, stamping, and even better that I’m now here sharing it with you!  I’ll remember this as a good day.

This week’s Stella Ruby card uses some of the paper I’d previously cut into, but this time I stamped the French Flair background in Ruby Red on one of the panels.  I sometimes forget about stamping directly on the paper, but you can get so many more looks from the less patterned pieces by doing so.  I used a couple of stamps from Carte Postale, but the other postage cancellation stamps are by Tin Can Mail.  The tearing, distressing and sponging are all inspired by the aged look of the paper.  The cardstocks are Ruby Red, So Saffron and Very Vanilla, and the sponging is done with More Mustard and a tad bit of Close to Cocoa around the edges of the Ruby Red card base.  The bird is embossed with Midnight Sapphire Obsidian EP which has a deep sapphire metallic sheen to it, very much like a real swallow.  It’s much more impressive IRL, one of those little things that makes a big difference.  I have my friend, Linda Bullard (SCS labullard) to thank for this EP–thank you, Linda!

I’ll return now to the more Spring-fresh cards I’m inclined to stamp this time of year, but I do enjoy these little diversions with Stella.  I hope you do, too.  I’d love it if you’d tell me one thing about today that gave you pleasure–any little thing.  It would give me pleasure, too!  Happy Tuesday!

Boy, this sure turned out purple, didn’t it?  I thought I’d use Lavender Lace since it’s been neglected for a while.  I rarely use less than three colors on a card and it wasn’t until I finished this that I realized I’d only used two.  The little bit of green and the white hardly count.  Nevertheless, I like it in it’s very purple way.

This 5 1/4″ square card worked best for the frame idea I had in my head.  I thought about this last night before I went to bed, and again today while I was working in the garden, so it went together pretty fast when I had time to get to it.  I stamped the rose and leaves in Night of Navy and Always Artichoke craft ink and clear embossed, then stippled on the color after highlighting with a white crayon (crayon resist).  The rose is Lavender Lace with a little Elegant Eggplant in the center to add some simple shading.  The frame, which I trimmed with scallop scissors, has a 2″ opening and is mounted on dimensional tape over a Night of Navy base that has ordinary drywall tape over it.  The rose was mounted on dimensional tape, too, and placed in the center of the frame.  The polka dots were made with the flower center dot from this set, Mixed Bouquet.  The Bouquet wheel in the background is White Craft and the Mixed Bouquet sentiment is stamped in Night of Navy.

Can you believe this is the first time I’ve used the rose from this set?  I made a polyshrink charm with it once, but that’s all.  It gave me the impression of being too big and open and lacking detail and I just didn’t know what I’d do with it.  Well, shame on me!  It’s actually a pretty fun image.  I’ve got one or two more ideas for it that I’ll get to later and that will about wrap it up for this set for the time being.  I’m back to work in the morning after a too short, but very satisfying weekend!

I think we’ll be seeing a lot of cards made with Stampin’ Up!’s retiring sets until the new catalog comes out.  A lot of demonstrators will be weeding out these  sets because it just makes good business sense, but I don’t have good sense so I’ll be keeping most of mine.  Once in a while I’ll let a set go, but not often enough.  You should see my stamp room.  It’s reaching critical mass.  I have sets I keep just because I like one little stamp in it.

This Mixed Bouquet set is one I’ll be keeping.  I haven’t used it very much, but just because it’s retiring I felt inspired to make a few cards with it.  I love these new papers!  I used a couple of pieces of the Amethyst and a leftover scrap of Saffron with Saffron, Celery and Amethyst cardstock.  The flowers were stamped in Basic Brown and colored with markers.  I sponged the background with Blush and added some Itty Bitty.

I spent the day working in the garden and “wonderful” doesn’t begin to describe it.  I wish I could show you how it feels as well as how it looks.  I’m glad I was also able to squeeze in enough time between gardening and dinner to finish a card to share with you.  I started this earlier in the week, stamping piecemeal on my breaks at work.  Sometimes that’s the only way I can manage my stamping time, but I do try to find time for the things I really want to do.  A day with both gardening and stamping is a very good day, indeed!  I hope your day was good, too!

I love the way the garden looks fresh from a Spring rain.  Not long after I took these pictures yesterday all hail broke loose and it did that off and on most of the day.  There are a lot more cherry blossoms on the ground now.  This is the walk that leads from the driveway, around the side of the house where most of the garden is.  There’s quite a lot of color in this photo, but it’s mostly from the foliage.  In the left foreground is Nandina, or Heavenly Bamboo — Heavenly because it doesn’t spread like other Bamboo.  It’s very well behaved.  The two dark red bushes are Rosey Glow Barberrys, a dwarf and a standard.  Soon, the new foliage will sprout in a beautiful Regal Rose and Burgundy combo that truly rivals any flower in the garden.  You can see a tiny bit of the Purple Smoke Tree in the right upper corner.  Since it’s planted on the north end of the walk, it’s backlit by the sun all day and, oh my goodness, what a glorious sight!  As the flowers come and go I can rely on these colorful plants to carry the show all the way to Winter.  And the greens…well, the green wraps its lush self around the garden and gathers it close, tucking its treasures here and there.  Oh, dear, I feeling the need for some garden time!  

This is good weather for frogs and these guys look right at home, don’t they?  Just a bit of garden whimsey.  I hear we might have some nice weather this weekend so I guess you know where I’ll be.  I’ve got a date with some Miracle Gro!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, too!

I have a number of excuses…er…reasons why I made this card the way I did:

To start with, it’s for a guy–a business acquaintance–from all of us at work so I tried to appeal to a variety of tastes, leaning toward suit and tie masculine.  Another consideration is that people will be writing all over the inside of it and it’s pretty hard to write on the backside of lumps, thus, few embellishments.  He brought us lunch in honor of Lab Week, which explains the sentiment and the place setting stamp that I thought I’d never use.  I “won” it at a CTMH party ages ago, back when they were D.O.T.S.  Does anyone remember D.O.T.S.?

I was anxious to use my new SU! Palette o’ Prints designer paper, even though I had something much prettier in mind for their first time out…sigh…  The Saffron argyle with Bordering Blue and Bravo Burgundy looks manly enough and Paisley…well…Paisley just always looks good to me.  I stamped it in Burgundy on Saffron.  Actually, it’s from my scrap drawer.  I didn’t care much for the look of it at the time–too dull–so I tossed it in the drawer where it lay waiting for the right card to come along.  The brads and twill tape helped perk it up a little bit.  I TP’d the center Saffron panel with More Mustard, another scrap from the drawer.  TP–that’s toilet paper wadded up and used like a sponge to dab ink onto the cardstock.

I was pleased that my coworkers asked me to make this card and happy for the challenge.  I know many of us have a hard time with these masculine cards.  Most of the guy cards I make are all about fishing and outdoor stuff–that’s the guys in my life.  Now that this is done I’m so ready to get back to the girl cards!  Sorry, guys, but they’re just so much more fun!  Have a great day, everyone!