Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Mission Impossible?

I've set a goal for myself this summer. A mission really. I keep a list of every stamp set I buy and there's about a dozen uninked (both individual stamps and sets). So my mission this summer (and hopefully I'll succeed) is to ink up and make cards with every single uninked stamp. So here it goes...

I thought Jen's SFYTT sketch would be perfect for my Verve's Practically Perfect set. And when I got my brand new PTI Polka Dot Basics II, I just had to ink it up as well. (That's two of the dozen in case you're counting...) So I brought out a sheet of aqua mist I stamped w/ my pal's Vintage Labels at our last productive Craft Day. Well it was productive for me anyway, I think she just watched NCIS or something. I paired it w/ a lemon tart sheet I stamped w/ the largest polka dots in PDBII.

I stamped the little boy bunny and colored him in copics. Then I did Nichole Heady's super awesome loopy ribbon thingie, only I really really need some piking scissors b/c I wasnt digging the v-shape cut. I took some creative liberties with the sketch but yeah...

The Dets:
Stamps: Verve Practically Perfect, PTI Vintage Labels & Polka Dot Basics II
Paper: MB vanilla bean notecard, PTI aqua mist, enchanted evening & lemon tart
Ink: Versamagic turquoise gem, Memento black, Brilliance sunflower yellow
Accessories: PTI ric rac die, Spellbinders rectangles, PTI dark chocolate ribbon

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Summer Fun

This morning when we left the house it was cold...dark...and unpleasant. Where was the sun the weather man promised? So we left decked out in jeans & jackets, when I would've much rather have been dressed like this little Shine (Summer) Anya. Then, of course, the weather did a 180 while I was in the craft store and turned blazingly hot. So I'm headed for a nap (b/c the sun makes me sleeeepy).

But first, quickly, the card. I inked up, colored & cut out this Miss Anya with an idea in mind. But it didnt really pan out. Then on the Club Anya Monday Mania challenge this week was to create a simple card with only one embellishment and green & kraft paper. I immediate thought this card would've been perfect, but since I've already done that...well it was back to the drawing board.

So I took an entirely different route and tried to make a girlier birthday card. I cut up my beloved Garden Variety sheet of paper and mounted it with various sheets of white & green. Then I embossed a scrap piece of kraft cardstock w/ a swiss dots folder and mounted the Miss Anya on top. It looked a bit plain even with the candy dots so I stamped a few of my newly acquired flourish stamps. I used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch, MTSC79, for the layout because she's got the bestest sketches (and of course it conveniently fit Miss Anya perfectly).

By the way, I can totally tell a difference between the quality of the Inkadinkado stamps & say...my PTIs. The inka's dont stick as well to my acrylic block. So I might just have to cave and buy Fancy Flourishes. Aw shucks...*g*


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Rain Snow Shine, PTI round & round, Inka dot flourish
Paper: PTI kraft, SU, Cosmo Cricket garden variety
Ink: Copics, Versafine black, Brilliance pearlescent ivy
Accessories: Spellbinder rectangle, candy dots, swiss dots embossing folder, glossy accents

Friday, June 25, 2010

Papertrey June Blog Hop Challenge


I've been meaning to participate in the monthly PTI Blog Hop for forever now, but of course the 25th of each month comes and goes. But this month's theme was a color challenge and I just had to take the plunge.

I chose a summery theme of Simply Chartruese, Hawaiian Shores, Orange Zest and Smokey Shadow. I've had the Beautiful Blooms II set ever since it came out in March...and had yet to use it. So I die cut a few of the blossoms then inked them with some orange ink. Then I stamped a panel with my Polka Dot Basics I in green and punched them out to be mounted on each blossom. I also stamped the Hawaiian Shores cardstock with PDB1. I stamped my sentiment from Signature Greetings, which is my total go-to senti set. I decided it needed a bit more so I die cut a strip of green with my medium scallop.

Confession time...I didnt get my latest PTI order so I had to fib with the orange & lime color, substituting it with Versacolor inks. And then I didnt quite dig the way smokey shadow was stamping out so I brought out some brilliance ink and loved it.


Thanks for checking out my card!

The Dets:
Stamps: PTI Signature Greetings, Beautiful Blooms II, Polka Dot Basics 1
Paper: PTI Hawaiian shores, MB key lime, SU!
Ink: PTI hawaiian shores, Versacolor orange & lime, Brilliance starlight black
Accessories: PTI med scalloped border & blooms #2 die, mounting tape, corner punch

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Purely Color Challenge


Have you ever lusted after a stamp for months, then you finally get it and...it sits sadly uninked for more months. You remember life before you had it, you saw all these beautiful cards made with it and you had all these ideas of things to do with it, if only you had it. But now you do and all those brilliant ideas are forgotten.

That's been my relationship with MFT's My Umbrella. My friend and I loved it sooo much it was one of the few sets we both have. And yet it sat forlorn and inked since April.
Enter Kim's WSC Color Challenge of Tomato, Celery and Sunshine. I think it was inspired by the Cosmo Cricket's Garden Variety paper pack. And I just happen to own (and love) it. So I got out my My Umbrella and was determined to ink it up. I colored her up in copics, then realized that the bright red coat and yellow rain boots absolutely needed some wet & shiney gloss. So I covered all of it in a layer of glossy accents. I ended up using Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC74. I've been wanting to participate for a while now since her sketches are always awesome.

The Dets:
Stamps: MFT Pure Innocence My Umbrella, TCP Hearts & Flowers
Paper: MB vanilla bean notecard, Cosmo Cricket garden variety, PTI dark chocolate
Ink: Memento black & cantelope, Copics
Accessories: Spellbinders ovals & rectangles, candy dots, glossy accents

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Cracked up challenge

So this week's ATS Challenge is using the cracked glass technique. I've never done it before but thought it would be interesting to try something new. I know most people take the whole cracked glass in the vintagey, sepia direction, but I thought of doing something that was more...icey and frosty like. But I didnt do very well. It just came out kinda lilac-y.

Anyway, for my card I brought out my new Sweet November Darby. She's just too adorable and soo much fun to color. I colored her in copics then went over certain areas w/ a stardust pen. But over all the embossing glaze, it didnt show up too well (or at all) in the pix. The embossing glaze took forever but it was a bit fun. It took a while to fashion something where I could set the image down and heat. I've tried pointing my heat gun direction on my crafting mat, but that's a really bad idea. I ended up covering a toaster oven stone tray with some foil and that worked perfectly.

I thought it'd crack a bit faster when I put it in the freezer. But even after twenty minutes it wasnt really cracking so I gave up and went to bed, leaving it overnight. Afterwards, I added some lulu lavender to the cracks to accentuate certain areas, but I avoided all the colored parts.


The Dets:
Stamps: Sweet November Darby, PTI Giga Guidelines
Ink: Memento black & lulu lavender, Copics, Stardust pen
Paper: MB notecard, Basic Grey kioshi dp
Accessories: Spellbinders ovals, PTI flower die, felt, kaiser jewels, embossing powder

Friday, June 18, 2010

Cupie Cake Friday

Its Aloha Friday...no work til Monday.

Happy Friday! And let me tell you, it seems like Friday was taking its sweet old time getting here. But that goodness it has.

So a while ago I had this image in my head about using glitter & glossy accent glaze to create tasty frosting. I couldnt think of a better stamp than my big cupcake from MFT's Its a Cupcake Kind of Day. So I stamped it out and colored it in brown copics (because chocolate is the only one worth eating). Then I topped it with some spica clear glitter, but that wasnt sparkley enough. So I dabbed the edges with a bit of stickles. Satisfied with the sparkle factor, I covered it all in not one but two layers of glossy accents.

Then it sat on my shelf for like a week. Its bottom was uncolored and naked. How sad.

Enter Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge, MTSC78. Her sketch has this circular focal I thought would be perfect for my abandoned cupie. I decided to use my fun, summery Delovely pack. I paper pieced the bottom and added a layer of ribbon. Then decided it need a bit extra so I added a few lemon tart buttons on top the ribbon.


The Dets:
Stamps: MFT Its a Cupcake Kind of Day
Paper: MB vanilla bean, Cosmo Cricket delovely dp
Ink: Copics, Memento black, spica clear glitter pen
Accessories: PTI lemon tart & raspberry fizz buttons, MS punch, ribbon, tcp linen thread

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Fairy Girl Friday

Happy Fairy Girl Friday...fake out. Because its not really Friday (unfortunately).

Anyway, I got this uber cool Autumn Fairy from my stint as hostess on Club Anya's Monday Mania. *g* And like all my stamps, I'm only getting to color it up months later. I love how she looks totally sassy and a little bit haughty. And of course her fairy wings. Gotta love those fairy wings.

I colored her wings with some pink and then some purple at the tips. I was trying to go for an iridescent look, but I think I've gotta practice a bit more. I went over them with a clear spica glitter pen, but then it didnt look sparkley enough. So I went over it with some stickles. I stopped myself before I decided to cover the whole thing with stickles, but I really kinda wanted to. Maybe next time.

I cut down drastically on the embellishments because I've been having difficulties mailing some of my cards. And this is being sent about 2,678 miles from here to a very awesome, super brilliant graduate...


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Autumn Fairy, Memory Box sentiment & flourish
Paper: MB licorice, Basic Grey kioshi
Ink: Memento black, Versafine black, Copics, Spica clear glitter pen
Accessories: felt, PTI med scallop border, spellbinders ovals, stickles

Monday, June 14, 2010

A Girlie Piratey Card

So I recently got my first, brand spankin' new Kraftin' Kimmie stamps. I absolutely love them. They're a bit edgy, a whole lot sassy and waaaay cute. And what better motivation to ink them up than a Kraftin' Kimmie challenge.

This week's Kraftin' challenge is the Beachy Keen, Jelly Bean! (Seriously that's what it's called...) And what better image than my KK Alicia Strawberry Pirate, which was a total last minute impulse purchase by the way. Okay so for those of you that dont see train of thought let me break it down for ya - Pirates travel on pirate ships in the ocean. Then they land on beaches to raid unsuspecting towns. Well mostly I associate pirates with that scene in Pirates of the Caribbean where Jack Sparrow's stranded on the beach and drinking himself silly.

I used an old TESC sketch for the layout. I colored her up in copics, then put a bit of glossy accent on the sword. Inspired by Wicked Pixie, I altered the eyes a bit b/c I wanted to play around with coloring irises. And of course I brought out the new Delovely paper that just screams warm beachy summer days.


Here's a close-up of the yummy glossy accent goodness...


The Dets:
Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Alicia Strawberry Pirate, TCP Arghh! Piratey
Paper: MB licorice notecard, Cosmo Cricket delovely, vellum
Ink: Memento black, Copics
Accessories: Smooch, glossy accents, PTI hawaiian shores button, ribbon, eyelets, spellbinder curved rectangles

Thursday, June 10, 2010

TMNT TESC

Kowabunga, dude! Hehe...that's what Michelangelo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) used to say. Only Poochie here obviously lacks the turtle power...

For this card I used this week's Taylored Sketch,
TESC116. After more than half of year of hoarding it, I finally inked up my TCP Fun in the Sun set. I colored Poochie up in copics and I covered his surfboard in a layer of yummy Glossy Accents. Then, I went over his shades with a Spica Glitter pen. I die cut a few felt orange circles to layer under my current fav, PTI hawaiian shores buttons.

Here's a close-up of the sparkiness...


The Dets:
Stamps: TCP Fun in the Sun
Paper: PTI hawaiian shores, DCWV citrus dp
Ink: Memento black & cantaloupe, Copics, spica glitter pen
Accessories: spellbinders circles, felt, PTI hawaiian shore buttons, MS bakers twine, swiss dots embossing folder




Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Tonight's the Night!

As if I had to tell you, but in case you haven't heard, tonight is the season finale for Glee. Though I kinda already know what's going to happen (stupid Wikipedia) even though I wasn't trying to get spoiled. But I'm still looking forward to all the singing and dancing. *sigh* What's a girl to do when there's no more Glee to watch all summer??? Well I suppose there is always listening to the soundtrack (repetitively)...reading...stamping...

I made this card a few weeks ago for a friend's birthday. Can you guess what her favorite color is? I'll give you three hints. No, nevermind, you get one and if you get it wrong, you're either colorblind (which we'll let slide) or too fluffy to roll with me.

This was supposed to be for a Club Anya Monday Mania Challenge, punch, pierce and piece. It was actually quite fun as I've done all three but never really all three on the same card. I started with Miss Anya Dressy which is apparently my favoritest Anya to paper piece. Then, colored her hair blonde because my friend says that Anya reminds her of her baby girl, who's blonde. I topped it off some flowers from a MS punch that I bought but rarely ever use.


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Miss Anya Dressy, PTI round & round, border & corners - circles
Paper: MB licorice, SU!, Basic Grey wisteria
Ink: Copics, Memento black, grey & plum, spica clear glitter
Accessories: MS punch, rectangle & oval spellbinders, kaiser jewels, paper piercer

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Hick-Hop...

You learn something new everyday. Hick-hop is a cross between line dancing and hip hopping, it's quite interesting. But new dance styles aside, you gotta love the opening auditions of any competition shows. Its always entertaining. And I'm a fan of new and interesting.

So a few weeks ago, TCP Tuesday, TCPTUES109, had a sketch challenge that incorporated a circle. I've never done a circle card, so I trolled the blogs for a few tutorials and found one that gelled well. I brought out TCP's Salud and some Cosmo Cricket papers. I popped up the drink and added some glitter and diamond glaze. So yummy.

The Dets:
Stamps: TCP Salud
Paper: PTI pure poppy & kraft, Cosmo Cricket garden variety
Ink: Memento black, Copics
Accessories: spellbinders rectangle & circles, diamond glaze, stickles, felt, PTI pure poppy button, krafters floss