Running With Scissors…

I recently borrowed this Stampin’ Up! Home for Christmas set from a friend, and stamped out two of these images — one on watercolor paper for watercoloring, and one on Whisper White for coloring with my Prismacolor markers.  When I decided this weekend to finally color it, I thought, oh, my goodness, look at the detail.  There’s no reason why it couldn’t be watercolored, but I wanted this time to bring out the detail so I could get a good look at the rustic, homey scene.

On the Creamy Caramel card base I stamped the Linen background in Creamy Caramel, and added some Hero Arts snowflakes in red, hunter, and chocolate.  The Happy Holidays sentiment circle is SU!’s retired Riveting, brown embossed and colored with Prismas.  A little holiday sparkle was brought to the scene with a touch of glitter here and there.

I used something new to me to help maintain some of the detail in the image, and that is Prismacolor Premier Illustration markers.  They’re not something you can use for blending and shading, because they most certainly do not blend.  They’re wonderful, though, for tiny lines and dots, and for restoring some of the detail which can become obscured with coloring.  They may not blend, but they also don’t bleed, so you can work in that detail with confidence, right over top of your other coloring.

I used a spruce green for the door garland, and brown and blue for the twig wreath.  I also used the green for the narrow strap on the sled, and brown for the runners and nail heads.  They worked beautifully for those details.  If only they came in more colors… 

They do come in several different tip sizes and styles, from the tiniest fine point, to a small chisel tip, but my absolute favorite is the small brush tip.  Very pointy and firm, it’s great for brushing on a tiny stroke of color — brush and lift — without getting that little blob at the end of the stroke which tends to show up with ball tips.  I’ve pictured it here next to Prismacolor’s regular tip and Copic’s brush tip just for a frame of reference.

It would make me very happy if Prismacolor would put this small brush tip on one end of their blendable alcohol markers, with a larger brush tip on the other end, but that’s just from my stamper’s coloring point of view.  As for these non-blendable finer tipped illustration markers in their limited color palette, if you’re interested in illustrating, journaling, or doodling, they’re just the ticket.

Well, there’s another Christmas card done, and it’s an easy mailer, too.  I’m making good progress, but I seem to be skipping right over Fall.  This always happens, and it’s my favorite season… sigh…  During my favorite season, I spend more time outside enjoying it than I do stamping cards for it, though, so I guess it’s not all bad.  A whole weekend just went by and I managed to make one card, tsk, tsk.  Back to work, now.  Hopefully, I’ll have more to share later.  Enjoy your Monday!

Stamps:  Home for Christmas, Linen, Riveting (all Stampin’ Up!), Hero Arts snowflakes  Paper:  Creamy Caramel, Handsome Hunter, Real Red, Whisper White  Ink:  Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Handsome Hunter, Real Red, Versamark, Prismacolor markers for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, eyelet border punch, double rectangle punch, glitter, embossing powder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

I have a thank you card today which somewhat resembles the gift it was made for.  I’ve used Stampin’ Up!’s Floral background in Pink Pirouette, and Illuminations embossed in gold.  My pink is a lighter shade than the soap packaging, but since Pink Pirouette is my most favorite of all pinks… close enough!

Illuminations is a set that didn’t last long in the catalog.  I must have been one of very few people who liked it (still do).  Too fancy, maybe?  But it’s so pretty!  It fits this Spellbinders Labels Four shape perfectly, and would easily make such a nice gift set…hmmmm…thinking…

To go along with the pretty stamps, I made a Cuttlebug embossed panel with the Diamonds in the Rough folder and sponged the pattern with Craft White (pigment ink).  The layered flower is one of my Wal-Mart beauties I wrote about here, and the center embellishment is from Flourishes Finishing Touches Beautiful Brads collection.  The ribbon is a delicious crushed velvet I’ve been hoarding long enough, and it’s now going to a very special friend.

Thank you for visiting with me on this lovely Fall day!  Take good care!

Stamps:  Illuminations, Floral (both Stampin’ Up!)  Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Whisper White  Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Versamark, Craft White  Accessories:  Crushed velvet ribbon, silk flowers, gold flower brad, gold detail embossing powder, Spellbinders Labels Four die, Cuttlebug Diamonds in the Rough embossing folder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Hello!  I have a quick and easy card to share today, made for a baby shower I’m attending this Saturday.  They’re having a little girl, but I’m sure she’ll see plenty of pink on Saturday so I used a yellow and white combo, which is one of my favorites for baby cards.

The stamps are retired Stampin’ Up! Bundle of Joy, colored with Prismacolor markers on Whisper White cardstock.  The card design may be familiar from this card.  I used this design again, not only because it’s so easy and I truly love it, but because I was asked if I might explain how I embossed just the center section of the card front.  While I did answer that question in an email, it reminded me that there are many stampers still very new to this craft who are oftentimes left puzzling over how certain things are accomplished.

One picture is worth a thousand words, but I’ve included a few words, too – somewhat less than a thousand:

• I started with a card base of Flourishes Classic White, which is very sturdy and embosses beautifully with a deep impression.
• I scored the card front 1/2″ from the top and bottom edges to create a guide of sorts for centering my embossing folder.  Scoring was done from the inside of the card so the “bump” would be on the outside.  For this card, I adhered designer paper, top and bottom, outside the score lines.
• The card is opened out flat, with a lengthwise orientation, and inserted into the embossing folder, as shown — “A” plate + “B” plate + card and embossing folder.  Add another “B” plate on top and crank it through.

You may notice that my embossing folder appears to be face down.  Don’t do that!  That was an “oops” which I didn’t notice until after I cranked it through and saw that my Swiss Dots were inverted.  It could be salvaged by turning the inverted dots to the inside, but I chose to start over.  Now you know why it takes me so long to make a card — sheesh!  I did not reshoot the picture, though.  I’ve got to cut corners somewhere!

It’s a very easy way to make a cute layout.  As for the main image, I stamped the giraffe first, then positioned my oval Spellbinders die over it and cut, using the Cuttlebug.  The best instructions I’ve found for cutting and embossing Spellbinders dies in the Cuttlebug are right there on the Spellbinders packaging.  I layered the image on two scalloped mats, added Offray ribbon and a button from my stash, both adhered with a spot of Aleene’s Tacky Glue.

The bow was made with the aid of my Bow Easy from Sharon Johnson.  I found Sharon’s instructions here very easy to follow, but she also gives a link to Jerri Kay’s video tutorial.  It’s like magic, and when I want a really perfect bow, I do reach for my Bow Easy.

Well, I’m off and running again… It’s the end of a busy day as I write this and I’d best get myself ready for work and another busy day tomorrow.  No rest for the weary.  Have a great day! 

Stamps:  SU! Bundle of Joy  Paper:  Flourishes Classic White (card base), Whisper White (main image), PTI Lemon Tart, Daisy d’s designer paper  Ink:  Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Close to Cocoa, Prismacolor markers (similar to Copics) for coloring  Accessories:  Offray ribbon, button, linen thread, Spellbinders oval and scallop dies, Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder

In May, I borrowed the Bareback set to make a birthday card (here) and, when finished, I had a little scrap of the Saffron Flannel Plaid left over.  I’m terrible about discarding any scrap which may be the least bit usable so I thought I’d try to manage another card with that scrap while I still had Bareback in my possession.  I got as far as black embossing the horses and then the scrap went back into the scrap basket.  Today, I have a finished card.

I wonder if he’ll notice it’s a leftover from his wife’s card?  I rather expect not, but she’ll probably notice right away.  Nevertheless, I’m glad I saved that scrap.  As with the May card, I used no designer paper.  Instead, I stamped Paisley Print in black on Close to Cocoa and added textured cardstocks and copper brads for a masculine look.  I hope he likes it.  I hope you like it, too.

It’s been a busy stamping week — much more than my usual.  I’ll be back tomorrow with something pretty from Flourishes.  Take care!

Stamps:  Bareback, It’s Your Birthday, Flannel Plaid, Paisley Print (all Stampin’ Up!)  Paper:  Basic Black, Close to Cocoa smooth and textured, Old Olive textured, So Saffron textured, Whisper White  Ink:  So Saffron, Adirondack Pitch Black, Versamark  Accessories:  Copper brads, black embossing powder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape 

It looks like this is going to be Happy Week on the blog — happy birthdays, mostly, since I have so many October birthdays to think about, but today I have two happy hellos to share.

My first card was inspired by clip art which decorated some business correspondence I received at work.  It was so colorful and cheerful — I just loved it and I thought it would look pretty on a card.  Naturally, I couldn’t reproduce it exactly, and I made some slight color changes, but it’s close, and it was an awfully lot of fun .  All the stamps and colors I used are listed in the recipe.  All stamps are Stampin’ Up! except for an old ink splatter stamp by CTMH.  Very easy!

Here’s a photo of the clip art which inspired me:

And here’s the recipe:

Stamps:  Bodacious Bouquet, Simply Said, Sweet Shapes, old CTMH (D.OT.S.) ink splatter  Paper:  Basic Black, Whisper White  Ink:  Pink Passion, YoYo Yellow, Only Orange, Sage Shadow, Adirondack Pitch Black  Accessories:  May Arts Swiss dot ribbon, silver cord

While I was at it, I thought I’d make another card in Earth Elements — inspired by the clip art, but hardly resembling it.  I brought out an old favorite, Petal Prints.  It looks like a messy garden with leaves floating in mid-air, but the colors are pretty.  I added some of the splatter stamp from the Itty Bitty Backgrounds set.  I rarely use that stamp anymore, and I don’t know why.  It’s the best splatter stamp I’ve ever come across.  I need to make a note to self — use Itty Bitty more often.

Stamps:  Petal Prints, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, sentiment from Vases in Vogue  Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Very Vanilla  Ink:  Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip  Accessories:  Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon

I’m so glad you could stop by today.  I’ll be getting busy on those birthday cards now…  Have a happy week!

Good Wednesday to all!  I just have one simple card to share today.  I’d planned to spend a little more quality time with my barely used SU! Embrace Life set but the truth is, I’ve rarely felt more abandoned by my imagination.  A temporary lull, I hope.  Perhaps it’s because every morning, lunch hour and evening is spent helping my Wally puppy burn off energy (in between smooches, of course).  Or maybe it’s just the approach of summer’s end that has me wanting to lounge on the deck with a good book, soaking up the sun while it’s still available.  Funny how the desire to stamp is still there, but the get-up-and-go-for-it is trailing behind.

I sat in my stamp room for the longest time, looking at my card parts, trying to figure a way to make this composition more interesting.  After a spell, I realized I was attempting to force something that just wasn’t there.   So why not keep it simple?  I have some pretty flowers and pretty paper, a length of ribbon, and a friendly sentiment.  I also have a card that, in the end, is as satisfying as any elaborate construction I’ve made in the past, and it’s an easy mailer to boot.

I’ll admit, I’m drawn more and more to clean and simple these days.  It has occurred to me that there’s less that can go wrong with clean and simple — fewer crooked layers, badly placed embellishments, or unbalanced compositions.  Sometimes you’re really “feeling it” and it all flows together effortlessly, but when in doubt, clean and simple gets the card done.

I colored the flowers with Prismacolor markers — Blush Pink, Cherry, and Tuscan Red.  The image panel is popped up on foam mounting tape.  And that’s all there is to it.  Gosh, I could have had this card done in a jiffy if I hadn’t been so unnecessarily determined to do more.  It’s a learning experience.

I appreciate your taking the time to drop in on me today.  I feel like I’ve been a little scarce, both in my posting and my visiting.  Again, sometimes you just have to let things flow with the current.  Enjoy your day!

Stamps:  Embrace Life, All Year Cheer I  Paper:  Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Wild Asparagus designer paper  Ink:  Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Chocolate Chip, Prismacolor markers for coloring  Accessories:  Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Today’s cards are all about the matter of breaking into my new SU! colors and Razzleberry Lemonade paper, using a stamp set that hasn’t seen the light of day for a while, and getting a wedding card done in the process.  I put together some layouts hoping to make good use of the paper and stamps, and used one main image on the first card, a pair of images on the second, and a group of three on the last card — hence, Stamping 1, 2, 3.

These cards really didn’t take long to make since the stamping is so simple with the solid images.  I’m going to need to learn how to stamp more quickly or make simpler cards.  You see… I have a new man in my life and he’s a sweetheart.  He will require some attention, though.  More about that soon…

But first… this is a wedding card.  I thought I’d do something young at heart for the young couple.  It may not be the type of wedding card I’d ordinarily make but, after all, it’s for them, not for me.  The stamp set on all three cards is Priceless.  The sentiment on the wedding card is from the retired set, Happy Harmony.  Colors are Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo.

There’s more of the same colors and papers on this card, but with the addition of Rich Razzleberry for the flowers and card base.  The sentiment is from the Smarty Pants set:

The third card uses some of the more muted papers from the collection, as well as Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie ink in addition to the Rich Razzleberry.  Cards 2 & 3 were made with easy mailing in mind.  They’re not too lumpy, and will require no extra postage to mail.  They’ll go into my little “cards for sale” basket at work.

Well, that was fun!  At least it was for me…  I hope you enjoyed it, too.  See you again soon!

Well, here’s a set that retired a while back and I rushed to purchase it before it was gone for good.  I’ve just now made my first card with it.  I guess you could call me a slow starter.  I needed a masculine birthday card, and this set fit the bill perfectly.  I could have used it many times before, but I was intimidated by the prospect of coloring the deer.  There I go again… just as with the birds, I want the rendition to be accurate.  I had a good model for these deer, though — if the big guy in the foreground were a three point in velvet, he’d look exactly like the garden visitor I found dining on my Lady’s Mantle the other day.

This is two stamps from the set which I put together to make a scene.  I used an old Posh Impressions grass stamp for a little filler, as well.  The manly plaid is from, of all things, my BasicGrey June Bug pad.  The image is watercolored with SU! inks.  I think every other detail is apparent at a glance, and supplies are listed in the recipe, below.

Have a good Monday and a great week!  I’ll be posting daily Wednesday through Saturday so I hope we can get together again then.  I’ve been stamping a lot in my spare time, and staying off the computer in an effort to catch up on a few things.  Consequently, I haven’t been out visiting all the wonderful stamping blogs I find so inspiring.  It’s time to do a little catching up on that now!  See you soon!

Stamps:  Noble Deer (retired Stampin’ Up!), Warmest Regards  Paper:  Always Artichoke, Kraft, watercolor, BasicGrey June Bug designer paper  Ink:  Palette Umber, various SU! inks for watercoloring  Accessories:  Twine, linen thread, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Today I’ve gone back to an old favorite, but with a new coloring medium, my Prismacolor markers.  In the past I’ve always colored the images from this beautiful Stampin’ Up! Gentler Times set (retired) with Stampin’ Pastels (soft chalks).  They’re rather detailed images for chalks, but at the time I wasn’t quite sure what else to do with them.  The markers, thank goodness, were much easier.

The stamped image is almost, but not quite, solid.  There’s no distinct outline.  Though there’s a lot of detail, it’s relatively easy to see where to add the shading.  In fact, you could stamp the image in a dark ink and color over it with markers, and achieve a nice result without adding any of your own shading.  In this case, I stamped the image in Ranger Distress Tea Dye, which is a very light caramel shade, and used it as a guide for shading the image.  In the end, it looks like an actual painting, rather than a colored-in open line image…well…because it’s not an open line image.  I love this type of stamp!

The rose was colored with Deco Yellow and shaded with Ochre, and a little bit of Crimson added for more color.  The other flower, which I think is supposed to be a hydrangea, is Deco Pink and Grayed Lavender.

See the white highlights on some of the petal tips of the hydrangea?  Those highlights were added as an afterthought with a white gel pen.  To make the gel pen highlights soft and nicely blended I colored a little spot of white and then immediately touched it lightly with my fingertip.  With another, clean fingertip I lightly brushed over the white to soften it.  Very easy and effective!

Just for fun, I’ve included photos of the image stamped in Ranger Distress Walnut Stain (a very dark brown) – one without color so you can see the bare bones, and one quickly colored with no additional shading:

It’s beautiful even without color, and satisfactorily pretty with color added — a great image type to see a stamper through all stages of devoloping color skills.  I don’t know if SU! has any new images of this sort, but I like to keep my eyes open when I’m shopping around…  Maybe I should take another look at the new catalog…

Well, darn, my three day weekend is over now, and I need to get a move on with the work week.  I’ll have lots more to share beginning Wednesday with Flourishes July previews.  I hope to see you then!  Take care!

Stamps:  Gentler Times (retired SU!)  Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, retired Enchante designer paper  Ink:  Ranger Distress Tea Dye, Prismacolor markers for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, Finishing Touches floral brad from Flourishes, Spellbiners oval dies, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Okay, so I haven’t been very good about my monthly Christmas card self-challenge, but I hope by making three cards this month I’ve made up for my negligence somewhat.  After all, it’s only June, right?  This brings me up to five cards, total.  Hmmmm…I’ll need a lot more…  As much fun as I had making these, I feel ready to make more right away.  But I won’t.  Time will go by and I’ll have to talk myself into it again.

I used Stampin’ Up!’s Holiday Lineup for all three cards and kept them lightweight for no extra postage.  The ribbon knots on the first card are a little bulky, though.  I would have done better with taffeta or organdy ribbon.  It would be easy enough to change but, darn, I like the color…sigh… 

All the images are colored with Prismacolor markers on Whisper White paper.  Here’s the recipe for the first card:

Stamps:  Holiday Lineup, Many Merry Messages  Paper:  Bavo Burgundy, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, BasicGrey Figgy Pudding designer paper  Ink:  Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Craft White, Prismacolor markers  Accessories:  Olive polytwill ribbon, eyelets, 1 1/4″ and 3/4″ square punches, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

The next card has some designer paper layers, but still lightweight enough for minimal postage.  The taffeta ribbon bow lays very flat, especially when placed next to the image panel, which is raised on foam mounting tape.  I placed a resin page pebble over the “Let it snow” words, trimmed around it and glued it over the ribbon for a virtually bulk-free embellishment.  Some piercing and scallops add to the design without adding layers.  On the first two cards I sponged around the edges of the card base with Craft White (pigment ink) for a snowy look.  Recipe:

Stamps:  Holiday Lineup, Glad Tidings  Paper:  Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Memory Box Winterberry designer paper  Ink:  Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Craft White, Prismacolor markers  Accessories:  Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, page pebble, SU! scallop border punch, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

These guys appear to be expressing some surprise and perhaps a little envy over Rudolph’s exceptional nose, but a little envy among friends can be dealt with, if not overcome.  I was looking for a suitable sentiment to use with this and wound up liking this one by Rubbernecker.  There’s a little glitter on Rudolph’s nose.  Recipe:

Stamps:  Holiday Lineup (SU!), sentiment by Rubbernecker  Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, Close to Cocoa textured, designer paper (maker unknown)  Ink:  Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Prismacolor markers  Accessories:  Ribbon, eyelets, glitter, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

I’m glad you could stop by, and I sure hope you enjoyed these silly cards at least a lttle bit.  They did keep me smiling while I was working on them!  Have a great day!