Stamping Happy

Polka Dots

2010-03-06T07:18:00.002-05:00

Here's a card that I submitted for this week's Stamping Bella challenge. The challenge was to use polka dots. I used the van image and colored it with Polychromos pencils and Gamsol. The paper background is a quarter of a WeRMemories 12 x 12 sheet of paper.

Here's the full sheet of the paper that I used for the background. I spotted this paper when I was in Salt Lake at Roberts' Crafts last time. It's really cool, because each sheet has four different smaller design sections on the front, which had perfect scales for cards. Nothing so big it overwhelms a stamped image! This collection was funky and retro, but I also bought some sheets from another collection that has soft flowers on it. I haven't cut into those yet.

Have a great weekend everyone and happy stamping!

Kathleen

Joanne B's Birthday Blogaversary continued

2010-03-03T20:04:00.006-05:00

Ciao, everyone! Hope you're having a good week. I sure am glad that today is "hump" day...we're in to the downside of the week. Yeah!

Joanne B's Blogaversary challenge is continuing this week. She put out another great challenge - to use kraft paper and sewing. My sample uses a Stamping Bella image. It's colored with my Polychromos pencils and Gamsol, with some black gloss pen to make the eyes and nose "pop". The stitching is faux stitching using an old Hero Art stamp that I have to confess, I have had for years and may have never used before. The paper is from Cosmo Cricket's S'mores line.

Here's a close up of the coloring of the lion. He was fun to color.

Can't wait to see what challenge Joanne puts out for this week. It's the third and final week, but you can still play! Here's a link to her blog: ...Just a little something...

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Kathleen

Joanne B's Blogaversary

2010-02-24T19:38:00.003-05:00

Joanne B is celebrating three years of blogging with another great challenge. This week's challenge was to use paper piecing. I've wanted to paper piece the chair on this cute cat image from Stamping Bella ever since I got it. I didn't think about the challenge of cutting out the tiny, tiny cat though, but I think it worked out okay. The paper is Cosmo Cricket's new Garden Variety paper from their 6" x 6" mini deck. I love those mini decks! The pattern size is perfect for using with stamped images. Nothing too overwhelming. After paper piecing the chair, I shaded it using Copics to add some shadows and depth. Here's how to visit Joanne's blog.

Happy stamping everyone! We're supposed to get MORE snow tomorrow and Friday, and I'm supposed to be flying to Chicago and back in those two days. I'm thinking it's more likely that my flight is going to be canceled. Either way, I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend of stamping.

Kathleen

Magnolia with Braids

2010-02-07T20:36:00.000-05:00

Ever have one of those cards that no matter how long you fuss with it, you just aren't happy? This was one of those cards for me. The striped papers on the corners was the paper that I used as inspiration for the colors I chose for the image. Then when I went to assemble the card, no matter what I did, I hated it. I finally settled for this layout, but I'm still not entirely happy with it.

Anyway, for the details, she's colored with Copics and cut out with a Nestability. Before removing the image from the Nestability die, I drew around the inside with a fine point marker to make the border. I did the same on the shape with the sentiment.

Anyway, I'm off to work on a card that I'll hopefully like better than this one.
Happy stamping!
Kathleen

Shades of Green Challenge

2010-02-06T17:51:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! If you live in the mid-Atlantic area, I hope you're enjoying the snow. I'm having a ball. I absolutely love being snowed in, snuggling in comfy clothes and stamping, reading, catching up on movies. Basically just vegging. I even lucked out and a couple enterprising young men stopped by this afternoon to see if I wanted my car shoveled out. I took them up on the offer and think I got a deal, since there's over two feet of snow that's fallen since yesterday evening!

Anyway, on to my card. This is my first time participating in one of Impression Obsession's challenges. I have LOTS of their stamps, since they were one of the stamp companies I bought from in my early days of stamping, which was about 14 years ago. The challenge is "Shades of Green," so I picked this stamp which I've had for a while but never inked up. I colored it with my Polychromos pencils and Gamsol, then highlighted the image with Stickles and Glossy Accents on the bubbles. I cut out extra fish and fins and layered them on top to add dimension. The paper layered underneath is from Memory Box.

Here's a close up where you can hopefully see the dimension of the raised fish.

Have a great weekend! I'm off to stamp some more.
Kathleen

Magnolia with Bird

2010-02-04T20:31:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love this Magnolia image! She was fun to color, and her sweater works great for paper piecing. The argyle print paper I used for her sweater is from a pack of Memory Box paper, as is the background papers. I colored her with Copic markers. I need more practice with them so I can blend without the ink bleeding too much where I don't want it, but they sure are fun to play with! I used colored pencils to draw the blades of grass around her feet.

Here's a close-up of her.

Happy coloring!
Kathleen

Stamping Bella

2010-02-02T20:14:00.003-05:00

I made this card for this week's Stamping Bella challenge. If you've never visited their Website, I highly recommend it. Emily has a wonderfully talented design team, and there is a challenge each week with absolutely gorgeous submissions. Here's a link to the blog.

This is my card for this week's challenge. I used "Imogene the Fairy" and colored her with my Polychromos pencils and Gamsol. Her wings are highlighted with Stickles. The paper and flower rhinestone brads are from Making Memories Chloe's Closet collection. I bought the paper and some embellies on clearance ages ago at Michael's but hadn't used any of it yet. It's a fun spring collection.

I'm busy watching for snow this evening. It's only supposed to snow a couple of inches. We're expecting a storm on Saturday though, so I'm already dreaming of a day snowed in and stamping and coloring all day! Oh, joy!

Happy stamping!
Kathleen

Beloved Paper Challenge from Joanne

2010-01-17T18:12:00.003-05:00

First of all, if you haven't checked out Joanne B's blog, ...just a little something..., I highly recommend that you go there and take a peak. She does phenomenal work! She has a challenge this week, to use at least one of five things from a list. I've used My Mind's Eye Beloved paper and pearls. I just bought the Beloved paper last weekend when I was in Salt Lake on business and managed to fit in a trip to a scrapbook store. Thanks to Joanne's challenge, I have cut into it rather than hoarding it! I don't have any of MFT's Pure Innocence stamps (although they're on my shopping list), so I used Paper Trey Ink's Everyday Button Bits. The punch border is a Martha Stewart one. This was a fun card to make! It was also the first time I played with the Button Bits and I'm itching to try some more of them out. A good way to use some of the thousands of buttons that I seem to have collected.

Anyway, here's my card. I really need to get another true color light. Sorry for the poor lighting on these! I had hoped to get them done earlier, but had to photograph them this evening.

Here's a close up to show some of the details.

I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. It's a long one for me, so I'm hoping to get in more stamping a blogging tomorrow. Now I'm off to finish cleaning up my stamp room, which is what I was supposed to do today.

Kathleen

Bella Birthday Blog Hop!

2009-12-05T09:23:00.003-05:00

Good morning everyone! Hopefully you're having a great time following the Stamping Bella 3rd Birthday Blog Hop! If you didn't start at the beginning, you might want to go here to Blogabella to start. You can see the details here regarding three $100 gift certificates that Stamping Bella is giving away.

Here's my card for the hop. It's a little "springy", I know. I'm tired of making Christmas cards at this point. This is the bffABUGS stamp from Bella. I just love these little bugs! They're colored with Lyra colored pencils and Gamsol odorless mineral spirits, then cut out and layered using Nestabilities. The patterned paper is K & Co Citrus, which I wasn't sure I liked at first, but the bright colors have grown on me. The paper was the inspiration for the colors I used for these "bugs".

Here's a close up showing some of the bling I added. I used tiny rhinestones on the antennas of the righthand bug and stickles on the wings. I also added black, glossy gel pen on the righhand bug's hair and the swirls on her dress. I's a little more bling that I would normally use on an "everyday" card, but I couldn't seem to stop once I got started last night.

Have a great time on the hop. Now that you're done here, follow the hop to Tammy's blog Stamp Happy. I feel honored to be pass the hop on to her. I follow her blog and check it out nearly every day.

Happy Hopping (and stamping!),
Kathleen

2009-08-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

Here's another Halloween card. I just love this little cat in a pumpkin from Stampendous. He reminds me of my cat - cute and a little silly - except I colored this one black for Halloween. He's colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. He's cut and layered with Nestabilities. Dew Drops are on the side. I took a black pen and doodled around the edge of the card.

Here's a close up to show the coloring. I got some Polychromos pencils recently, so I'll be coloring with them, along with my Prismacolors, while on Kentucky trip. I'll let you know how I think the two brands compare. Most people rave about both. I know I love my Prismacolors. Worth every penny.

Here's a picture of my own cute, silly cat. This is the way he throws himself on the floor every day when I come home from work. Just waiting to get all that long hair brushed out. (Thank heavens he likes getting brushed out! He's got LOTS of long hair.)

Hope you're getting in lots of time for stamping!
Kathleen

Halloween's Getting Close!

2009-08-19T20:42:00.001-04:00

Halloween will be here before we know it. I can't believe that summer is almost over! I hardly seems like it's possible because, until a week or so ago, we've had a very cool, rainy summer. I hate the heat, so I've been happy! :-)

Here's an image from Impression Obsession, colored with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol. I sponged some ink around the image to give it some depth. The edges are cut with Fiskars deckle scissors (the only decorative edge scissors that I ever seem to use). The sentiment is from Printworks, one of the first companies I discovered when I began stamping many years ago. They're still a favorite.

Hope you're having a great week!
Kathleen

Dragon Monday

2009-08-17T08:00:00.004-04:00

Well, it's Monday again. I'm not complaining though, because I'm only working today and then I'm off the rest of the week. Off to Kentucky with my boyfriend to visit some of his family. I should be able to get lots of coloring done on the eight hour ride there tomorrow.

Here's a cute dragon that I colored up with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I don't know who makes the dragon. Even though he's wood mounted, there's no company stamp on the wood, and I bought it ages ago in a $1 bargain bin somewhere. Anyone know who made him? He's cut out with an old Spellbinder Shapability that I broke apart to use like Nestabilities. The set was original concentric shapes that were attached, so you ended up with several thin border shapes.

I used a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder on the orange card to give it a bumpy, dragon skin-like texture. I wanted some embellies on the left (no idea who makes the designer paper) but didn't want girlie flowers. I ended up using my neglected clear adhesive pebbles. Underneath, I used a small circle punch on plain white paper, inked it with orange ink, then stamped on the letters in green. It's mounted on a disc that's made to fit typewriter font circles.

Here's a close up.

Have a great week! I have a couple other posts scheduled to go while I'm traveling.
Kathleen

Changito Birthday Card

2009-08-15T20:26:00.007-04:00

Hope everyone's Saturday is going spectacular. Today I have a card to share that I made for my niece's birthday. She LOVES monkeys. This image is Changito from Stampendous. He's colored with my Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I added the fuzzy, clear flocking from Denami Designs on his body. The paper is Basic Grey.

Here's a closeup on Changito where you can really see the flocking. It doesn't cover the coloring too much and makes his body nice and furry.

I hope you're all having a stampendous Saturday!

Kathtleen

Blogabella Challenge

2009-08-13T23:00:00.004-04:00

I made this card for this week's Blogabella Challenge, sponsored by Stamping Bella. The image is colored with Copics, cut out and layered with Nestabilities. The paper is from a box of K & Company paper and the border punch is Martha Stewart. Sorry for the short post. My boyfriend is starting to look grumpy that I'm ignoring him this evening to get this posted before the deadline!

Here's a closeup of the image. It might show up on the picture. The wings are highlighted with a clear Spica glitter pen.

Have a wonderful Friday!
Kathleen

CASEd image

2009-08-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

How are you all today? We're past "hump day" and down to the count for the weekend. Yahoo!

I was determined to color this image with Copics but had a real fight doing it for some reason. I started out with blue and purple hydrangeas, but they were hideous. Probably because I don't have enough purple markers. (Do I hear another reason I need some more?) I should have switched to pencils, but I was determined. I ended up CASEing from Debbie Olson's tutorial on coloring this same image. Her blog is absolutely fanabulous, by the way! If you haven't checked it out, you should.

I changed up the layout, but used her same colors for coloring. The DP is from a jumbo pack of K & Co paper and the border punch on the bottom is from Martha Stewart.

Have a wonderful Thursday! I hope you all get in some time for stamping and fun!
Kathleen

Vase of Flowers

2009-08-04T07:00:00.003-04:00

Alesa Baker images have to be among my all time favorites. They're so delicate and wonderful for watercolor. I used Copics on this vase of flowers. Unfortunately, I had a battle trying to get this one to photograph properly. The color is off (the yellow halo around the flowers too bright and the white background too grey). I finally gave up, but I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Any ideas? I might try switching from my good SLR digital to my pocket digital and see what happens. The border punch is a Martha Stewart punch. Believe it or not, the ribbon is Christmas ribbon that I got for a song in January. Go to love that!

Happy stamping!
Kathleen

Life's a Bowl of Cherries

2009-07-31T07:00:00.001-04:00

Woohoo! It's Friday, and I'm off to the CK scrapbook convention in Valley Forge for the morning! Can't wait to see what goodies I can find, although I'm going to try to stick to my shopping list. (Haha. We'll see how that goes!)

I've been playing with Copics again, so I decided to color up this image from Karen Lockhart. Her stamps are fun because there's enough detail to have fun coloring but the images are small enough that there are lots of layout options. I'm sorry...I didn't keep track of which colors I used. I need to get better at remembering to do that. The checked paper is from a Making Memories pack that I picked up at Tuesday Morning. (If you have a Tuesday Morning store near you, check out their crafts aisle. I can often get packs of quality DP for only a couple bucks!) The sentiment is layered on red cardstock cut with the smallest Spellbinders Label Four die. It's hard to tell in the pic, but the zig zag edge has embossed faux stitching along it. Honestly, the stitching is a little hard to see in real life too. I'm a little disappointed with it. Next time, I'll try spraying my cardstock with Paper Glide first
.
Here's a close up of the cherries. After coloring them with red, I touched each berry with the colorless blender. It "pushed" the color just enough to give shading to each cherry. It really did make a difference!

Have a wonderful Friday!
Kathleen

One Last American Art Stamp

2009-07-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, here's one last Karen Stolper image from American Art Stamps. Can you tell I was coloring these over the weekend? I promise to move on to something different with my next post. This one was done the same as the last two, except I used the scalloped rectangle die today. I originally planned more embellishments on this one but decided to leave it clean and simple. The DP is busy enough. What do you think?

Have a great Thursday!
Kathleen

Sale at Ellen Hutson's Store

2009-07-28T19:05:00.003-04:00

Ellen Hutson has a great sale going on right now. If you haven't visited her store (link here) before, she always has a wonderful assortment of new things. Lots of Memory Box, Lockhart, Copics, Basic Grey, and many more goodies. I'm not affiliated with her store, just a VERY happy customer. I've ordered from her many times and her service is always stellar and shipping is more than reasonable.

The sale runs through July 31. Just enter BEPREPARED as the coupon code.

Kathleen

Another American Art Stamp

2009-07-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

Here's another American Art Stamp. I just love these funky, skinny ladies. I colored this one with colored pencils and Gamsol. This one's cut out with Spellbinders Curved Rectangle dies. (I can hardly contain my excitement waiting for the new Spellbinder dies that are being released at CHA this week! Love the Nestabilities!) I sponged this one with chalk ink while the paper was still in the die. Then I decided it needed something else, so I drew a line around the inside of the die, using a thin green gel pen. The paper on this one is from a huge box of K & Co paper from Joann's that only cost about $10 with a coupon. Great deal! There's around 200 pieces of paper in the box and there are very few that I didn't like or that had too large of patterns for cards. The flowers are from Prima.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!
Kathleen

Love Karen Stolper's Images

2009-07-26T21:05:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to break out of my rut of making A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") sized cards. Today's is 5" square. I love these American Art Stamp images. I fell in love with them a few years ago when I got the chance to go to the Carson convention. The image is stamped in Versafine black and colored with pencils and Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits). After cutting the image out with a Spellbinders Blossom die, I sponged on Chalk ink before removing the die. The main piece is attached with foam tape on two layers cut with Spellbinders Classic Scallops dies. I don't remember who makes the paper, but I think it was from Joann's.

Hope you're having a great weekend! Kathleen

Away too long

2009-07-25T09:11:00.002-04:00

Well, I had good intentions when I started my blog, but then got distracted by remodeling my bathroom. How can redoing one tiny room create such a disaster of an entire house? It's finally finished, so now I have time for blogging again. I'll have some new cards posted over the next couple of weeks. I did get plenty of time to color while monitoring the contractor on the bathroom progress.

There's some great blog candy here that you should check out. Melissa is giving away goodies, including a Slice!

Happy stamping!
Kathleen

Fluffles

2009-05-12T21:01:00.001-04:00

I decided to play today with a couple of Stampendous' Fluffles images. I love the silly Fluffles cats. I colored these with plain old waterbased markers. After playing with Copics the last couple of months, I wanted to see how much I could do with the waterbased markers. Not as much shading, but still fun, especially for this type of image. I decided to do very quick layouts. Both Fluffles and the scalloped circile behind them were cut with Nestabilities. On the second one, I ran the bottom part of the base cardstock through a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Hope everyone's having a great week so far!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2009-05-10T19:24:00.005-04:00

Finally, I had a chance to stamp this week, although it was something of a rush job. Here's a picture of the card I made for my mother. The picture's not very good, as I forgot to take one before sealing the envelope. I ended up taking this while holding the card in my hand so it wouldn't blow away. We were outside at my brother's house. It was a beautiful day here, but very windy.

The background papers are K & Company, cut with Nestabilities. The only stamping was the Memory Box birdhouse and the sentiment (Hero Arts) with blue daisy background. Both were stamped with pigment ink and embossed with blue EP. It's hard to tell on my pic, but the birdhouse label was mounted with foam tape to raise it, and the sentiment was mounted with two layers so it is raised a little more. I had trouble deciding which color flower to use, so I ended up stacking a couple with a brad to hold them together.

2009-04-21T10:01:00.000-04:00

I did this card over the weekend too. I already had the pieces cut out from playing with the Nesabilities Label dies when I first got them. The birds are a Maryse Carrier stamp put out by Stampotique Originals (I still miss visiting the store they used to have in Phoenix, but I would only get there a couple times a year while in Phoenix on business.) I very quickly colored the birds and flowers with colored pencils and then softened the coloring with Gamsol. I though the quick scribbly look with the color fit the style of the stamp. The border on the card is from Judikins.

Quiet Weekend

2009-04-20T09:50:00.000-04:00

It was a quiet weekend. After an incredibly, unusually stressful week at work, I was in the mood to first get physical and then just "veg." After spending all day Saturday on yardwork (spring finally seems to be here in Delaware!), with every muscle in my body aching, the stress from the week was gone. That left Sunday for quiet crafting time. I dug out this old stamp from Magenta, which I have to have had for about ten years but haven't used in ages. It's stamped in Adirondak Caramel ink then highlighted with colored pencils. I cut out the insides with an Exacto knife and layered a small square behind so the rust color would show through. The tag on the bottom is just a rectangle with a corner punch done on each corner. (I didn't have the energy to dig out the die cutting machine.) I didn't add a sentiment. I'll keep this card in my stash for an emergency card and will add the appropriate sentiment then. I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend with beautiful spring weather!

Colorbox Style Stones

2009-04-19T09:41:00.005-04:00

There was some talk this week on Gingerwood (link on left sidebar) about Colorbox''s Style Stones. They're discontinuing them, so if you can find them, buy them now! After being reminded of them, I dug out some I had around and played. This was a super fast card. The style stone is colored with wo different colors of inks. I put the darker green on with a small stencil brush, getting down in the crevices. Then swiped a lighter green inkpad across the top. I colored the edge with a Krylon Copper pen (love those pens!). The background is a large stamp from Judikins, that stamped with clear embossing powder and then lightly brushed Perfect Pearls across. It took my longer to dig out the supplies than it acually took to make the card. Hope everyone's having a great weekend and are having time for fun!

Variations on a Theme

2009-04-14T19:32:00.003-04:00

I wanted to use some of the pretty papers I've been hoarding and the teacup stamp from Stampington that I've had forever and never used. I couldn't decide which paper to use, so I made three versions. The image is stamped in Versafine black and colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. Quick and easy!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T21:12:00.004-04:00

Here's my Easter card, made with a stamp by Magenta. The image was stamped in Colorbox Dune and then colored with pencils.

Magnolia Tilda

2009-04-11T21:12:00.004-04:00

The Magnolia images are fun to color. I have young nieces who especially love getting cards with Magnolia images. This one is colored with Copics, which I just started using about three months ago. Love them! I put glass pebbles (aka skittles) over her eyes on the glasses using Ranger's Clear Accents as an adhesive. Unfortunately, her eyes don't show up very well on the close up shot below. They look much better in person and on the shot of the entire card.

Cats!

2009-04-10T09:37:00.002-04:00

I started out with a pile of these kittens colored. I usually have a stack of images, stamped in black, sitting in the TV room so I can color whenever I'm hanging out with my boyfriend. Sometimes the colored images pile up before I get a chance to spend time in my stamp room actually assembling the cards. I joke that rubber stamping is an excuse for adults to color. I tend to color with pencils and Gamsol or with Copics. These were done with pencils. I had them colored in two different color combinations (pink/tan and blue/grey). I finally got to the stamp room, so I made two different cards.

For this one, the card was cut slighly smaller than an A2, so that I could attach the square at the top, and the card still fits in an A2 envelope.

Friday placeholder

Outlines Turtle

2009-04-09T09:37:00.004-04:00

I had a stash of this turtle from Outlines colored and finally had time to make it into cards. I decided to do one suitable for boys and one for girls. On the first one, I stamped a sentiment, but I decided to leave some like the second one. The tags are cut using my Wizard and Spellbinders die. The tag is there and ready to stamp, but I left off a sentiment. Some day when I need a card in a hurry, I can just add an appropriate sentiment onto the tag. The turtles are colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended with Gamsol. The embossed line of circles on the bottom of the card is a Cuttlebug folder.,

This one's a little different. Colored exactly the same, but a different card layout. The background is embossed with a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (done in my Wizard), with a few of the circles colored in the middle with Ranger's Stickles. The patterned stripe on the left side is a piece of ribbon.

Daisies

2009-04-08T09:37:00.002-04:00

I'm in the mood for spring to arrive. We're definitely having the spring rains, but other than that, it's still cold. I'm ready for skies that aren't grey and ground that isn't soggy. Not that I'm anxious for the summer heat and humidity to arrive! So, I decided to do some daisies today. They're colored (quickly) with plain old water-based markers. Then I cut out three of the daisies and mounted them on top with the tole technique.

Here's a close up of the raised daisies.

Quick and Easy "Guy" Card

2009-04-06T09:36:00.003-04:00

Here's another "guy" card I made. I struggle with cards for men, partly because I don't have a lot of stamps that would appeal to a man. I could do grungy collage, but even that would be too "artsy" and not "manly" enough for guys like my father. Anyway, for this one, I colored the rubber directly with a combination of green, brown, and blue water-based markers and then stamped the image. I cut the oval layers using the Coluzzle. To make the miniature fishing net, I used a piece of cheesecloth.

Pastels

2009-04-05T21:16:00.003-04:00

These are from some older classes that I did using chalk pastels, another favorite medium of mine. This first one is a Penny Black stamp, stamped in black and then colored with chalk pastels.

This one's a PSX stamp (I still miss that company!). I struggled with what to do with this stamp until I thought of coloring it with chalks. I stamped the image with clear embossing ink and then rubbed on pastels.

This one's a little boring. A Hero Arts stamp done like the PSX one above. On these, the cards are very simple because I wanted the class to have more time to focus on using the chalks.

This one's a Stampendous image done the same way. This is another image that I had trouble coming up with a way to use, but it works great with chalks.

This last one is a Stamps Happen image. It's stamped in dark green ink, shaded with pastels, and then I spattered ink across the front.

Stamp Cabana Frog

2009-04-04T21:39:00.001-04:00

Since I was cleaning off my corkboard, I decided to take this one down too. I made it years ago, but still like it. The background is done with a Rollagraph and embossed in white. I need to remember to use my Rollagraphs more for making backgrounds. The frog is from Stamp Cabana, which has been out of business for a while. He's colored with pencils, but no Gamsol, as I did this before I learned the technique with Gamsol. The daisies on the bottom were done with punches.

Christmas Thank You Cards

2009-04-03T21:39:00.003-04:00

Since I took down the Christmas cards yesterday, and the daffodils are blooming, I decided it's also time to take down the snow themed thank you cards that I used this year. This first one is a Magenta stamp, colored with Copic markers. This was a fun image to color. I only wish the blues on the bird had blended a little better. I'm still filling out my Copic collection, so right now, the colors are limited.

This was a super fast card, with barely any stamping. I wanted to use some of the beautiful Memory Box papers that I have. The two patterned layers are Memory Box paper, with the edges shaded with dark green Colorbox Chalk ink. The snowflakes were already printed on the paper, so the only stamping was to stamp the tiny "Thank you" on the tag that I cut with a Spellbinders die. It took me longer to design the card than it did to make a dozen of them.

Time to take down the Christmas cards

2009-04-02T07:18:00.003-04:00

Okay. Since it's nearly Easter, I thought it was time to take the Christmas cards from this year off my cork board. They're a little out of season, but since I didn't have the blog in December, I thought I'd post them anyway.

I love this Penny Black stamp. I used colored pencils on it and the patterned paper on the "ornament" is from Memory Box.

I watercolored this image with Twinkling H2Os. The plaid stripe on the card, underneath the verse, is flannel ribbon. I bought a huge roll of it after Christmas one year for only 25 cents.

I LOVE this Alesa Baker stamp. It's watercolored with H2Os also. On the enlarged image, you can also see some spots that I highlighted with Ranger's Stickles.

Dad's Birthday Card

2009-04-01T07:03:00.002-04:00

This was the super fast birthday card I made for Dad. I don't remember what company made the ape (anyone know?), as I have had him for ages and he's unmounted without any name. I've gotten better at writing the company's name on the back of my unmounteds as I buy them. The "Happy Birthday" is stamped separately. To keep a "guy" look, I stamped him on paper with natural fibers, added a twig and some raffia. The ape is colored with Prismacolor pencils. Quick and easy.

Watercolor with markers

2009-03-31T07:35:00.008-04:00

I've taught a class on how to do watercolor looks using markers. You simply color the rubber directly with various markers (variety adds much more depth and realism), then spritz very lightly with water, and then stamp on watercolor paper. The spritzing of the water blends the colors subtly. This technique even works with detailed stamps like mos of those below.

This is a a very detailed hydrangea stamp.

This is also a detailed stamp, from Printworks.

This one isn't terribly detailed. It's a Magenta stamp and is a lot of fun to do with various colors. The trick is to not use complementary colors (red/green, purple/yellow, blue/orange) next to each other. If you do, when the water blends the colors, you get a horrible, muddy brown.

Stampscapes

2009-03-30T07:34:00.003-04:00

I have taught several Stampscapes classes over the past few years, especially after I had the wonderful opportunity to learn some techniques directly from Kevin, Stampscapes' illustrator and owner. Below are some of the samples from my classes.

Stampbord

2009-03-29T22:16:00.016-04:00

I'm going to be trying out lots of photo techniques so I can practice getting the clearest shots for the blog, so I'll be posting tons of pictures over the next several days.

Here's some samples from my last Stampbord class. I LOVE Stampbord. It will take almost any medium, and scratching on the colored image to reveal lighter shades or white gives the image more depth.

Hello!

2009-03-28T18:34:00.003-04:00

I've decided to break down and start a blog. It used to be that everyone participated in swaps to share, but now online challenges seem to be more common. I spent today at a stamp convention in Pennsylvania, so I'm feeling inspired to stamp. I needed to rest a bit first though, so it seemed like a good time to get started on this. Hopefully, over the next couple of weeks I will have a chance to share some of my creations made with all of the new goodies that I bought today...the new Adirondak alcohol inks, some Nestabilities, stamps (of course), and lots of other fun stuff. I hope everyone is having as wonderful of a day as I have!