Playing w/ Texture...

Every so often its cool to learn a new tip. Or trick. So when this week's CA "Toot" featured a really cool vid by Kelly about creating texture, I was intrigued.

I colored up my brand new Cupcake Anya (I could not resist the cuteness and absolutely had to have her). She's one of the only digis I own, but I must admit I think I'm a convert. I wanted to try making her dress look sort of denim-like, so I colored it up in my BG70's. Then I used a scrap piece of fabric, added a few drops of my colorless blender solution and lightly pressed into the colored area. Its really really faint but I didnt want to bleed it too much.

I used this week's Mercy Sketch, MTSC88. But its amazing I even finished this card as I picked up Mockingjay from the library last night. Finished it a little why ago but dont ask me. I dont want to talk about it. My head is still vaguely lost in Sucksville, Panem.


Here's a detail shot. Perhaps if you squint and imagine (or just stare, unblinkingly for a really long time) you can vaguely make out the "texture" of her dress...


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Cupcake Anya, TCP Forget about the cake
Paper: MB notecard, PTI ocean tides, MME so sophie, Oct Afternoon thrift shop
Ink: Versafine black, Copics, spica glitter pen
Accessories: ribbon, spellbinders rectangles

A New Challenge

I am finally down to only two uninked stamp sets left in my cache, so my summer mission is coming along quite nicely. Alot of it was thanks to this new challenge blog I stumbled upon, Christmas Stampin' All Year Round. If not for this week's nifty little challenge of using two different dps, poor Christmas-y Nora might still be sitting in the uninked pile.

I inked up Nora and then die cut her in a circle to fit into my card. I daubered the edges with some memento ink, then finished coloring her in copics. Normally I go with blonde hair, but I'm trying to branch out. Bear with me here because it seems like I still need to get the hang of the brunette...

I topped her off with some glossy accents on all her buttons and earrings. Then I paper pieced her scarf and added some stickles to the snowflakes. I ended up using Mercy's Tuesday Sketch, MTSC87, b/c it fit perfectly. I love the layers Mercy incorporates into her cards.


The Dets:
Stamps: CC Designs Swiss Pixie Nora
Paper: PTI scarlett jewel, Basic Grey eskimo kisses
Ink: Copics, Spica glitter pen, Memento black & summer sky
Accessories: Spellbinders circles, snowflake embossing folder, glossy accents, stickles stardust, M's ribbon

Two Birds, One...Card

So this week's episode of TCP Tuesday, TCPTUES121, was a color challenge. Carole Burrage, who I'm sooo excited to see back w/ the Cat Pack, had this lovely color combo of denim, kraft and candy apple red. I searched high and low for a dp pack set that might do but just couldnt find any with both navy and red. Then I realized that one of my fav non-girly PTI colors, enchanted evening, would most likely fit the bill for denim.

I stamped out the Hearts & Flowers set, that I've shamelessly horded since last Thanksgiving. I also brought out my brand spankin' new, just delivered PTI ribbon and buttons. I absolutely love their saddle-stitch ribbon. Its soo yummy. And just like my chica, N, I have this compulsion to collect them all.

Mercy's Sketch, MTS86, fit perfectly for my image. Though as you can see I tweaked it just a bit (mostly b/c I had to put my brand new buttons in there somewhere).

The Dets:

Stamps: TCP Hearts & Flowers

Ink: Memento black, bamboo leaves, pear tart, summer sky, danube blue, Copics

Paper: PTI kraft & enchanted evening, vellum, Cosmo Cricket garden variety

Accessories: polka dots embossing folder, spellbinder rectangles, PTI enchanted evening buttons, MS bakers twine, PTI pure poppy ribbon

Hello, Hello

Hello, hello...I dont know why you say goodbye I say Hello.

Apparently that's a Beatles song but the one going through my head is the Glee version.

My summer time mission of using up stamps I got (so I can buy more) is progressing quite nicely. This card features the very last of my uninked Bella stamps, Gracie Lollipop. I purchased her and Ella. Though I debated for a while because they seem so similar and I did like Ella better. But I thought Gracie's dress would be way more fun to paper piece so I snatched her up too.

For my card I cut a piece of dp and lined the edge w/ a two way glue tape. Originally I had thought to use a die cut strip of ric rak but apparently I forgot. So I grabbed my MS glitter set and proceeded to dump glitter over the tape. I so {heart} the MS glitter. It coats awesomely and is uber sparkley. I used Mercy's Sketch, MTSC81. I thought it was perfect for showcasing little Gracie. And I actually brought out one of my woodblock sentiments from Amuse. I rarely touch my woodblock stamps, but I love Amuse's sentis the best. For some reason I find them super easy to stamp w/.

The Dets:
Stamps: Stamping Bella Gracie Lollipop, Amuse sentiment
Paper: PTI scarlet jewel, Basic Grey pantry & nook, Cosmo Cricket material girl
Ink: Memento black & cantelope, Copics, Versafine black
Accessories: Spellbinders ovals, MS glitter, PTI lemon tart button, felt, PTI flower die, krafters floss, glossy accents

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

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

Another {Late} Mercy Sketch

I have a confession to make. I hoard stamps. I've got loads of really pretty awesome stamps that have never seen an ink pad before. Exactly how much, well that will remain undisclosed... But when I saw Mercy's Tuesday sketch, MTSC74, I immediately thought of this little penguin.

I stamped the little penguin, then cut and mounted his ginormous hat for a little more depth. I decided to leave it sans sentiment b/c I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for. A fun, non-girly birthday or something else...

The Dets:
Stamps: TCP Hola Tequila
Paper: PTI kraft, Cosmo Cricket garden variety
Ink: Copics, Memento black
Accessories: PTI medium scallop, spellbinders circles, kaiser pearls, ribbon, corner punch

Mercy Pumpkin Sketch

I'm continuing on with my "trying to get my stamping mojo back" with another sketch challenge. This time I'm using Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge, MTSC68, and, boy, do I *love* her sketches. The boy thought this looked very "halloweeny" but...esh...its a puppy in a pumpkin. How cute is that??? And besides, it (along w/ my MFT bunny butts) have been sitting sadly, uninked for months.

You may not be able to really tell, but the scalloped circle is die cut from a piece of dark brown felt. I found this "stiff felt" from Michaels for $.99 each. It cuts pretty well, but it's probably not as thick as 100% wool, but at $.99 where can one go wrong with that. I sacrificed a bit of sparkly stardream bronze paper and ran it through one of my c-bug embossing plates for the background. Then I mounted both panels for a little more dimension.


The Dets:
Stamps: Verve Hello Pumpkin, So Happy
Paper: MB licorice notecard, SU!, BG indian summer, Stardream bronze, brown felt
Ink: Brilliance pearlescent chocolate, Memento black, copics
Accessories: kaiser pearls, cuttlebug d'vine swirls embossing plate, spellbinder tag & scallop/standard circles, M's satin ribbon

You're late...

For a very important date.


Well not really, but actually I'm running late to go see Alice in Wonderland. Eck! I heard it didnt get the greatest reviews but how can it be that bad when you got wonderfully kooky characters like that of Bellatrix Lestrange and Johnny Depp?


Anyway, its is a late card for this weeks Mercy's Tuesday Sketch. She's got the most fabulous sketches. When I saw the oval shape I immediately knew I wanted to ink up my brand spankin' new TGF Ruby. I remember when I first saw her on Amy's blog for the Create Your Own Sprout challenge. I absolutely loved her, so when she came out on rubber, I wasted no time in buying her. I'm still lamenting the loss of my Y21, but since Ruby just sorta demands blonde to me I had to continue on w/ my "other" blonde.


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Ruby, PTI Signature Greetings
Ink: Memento black, Brilliance graphite black, copics, spica glitter
Paper: MB lagoon notecard, BG lemonade paper pack
Accessories: diamond glaze, ribbon, ticket punch, kaiser jewels, oval spellbinders

Fated Kiki

Sometimes everything just falls into place. I recently got the oval spellbinder set for Valentines Day. Then Mercy's Tuesday sketch features an oval. It seemed like fate.

So I inked my brand new Sweet Kiki la Rue on an oval nestie. I sponged the edges with some Memento Angel Pink. The dp is my new favorite from My Minds Eye, Be Loved. I just love the way Mercy's sketch made the best use of all those papers I love so much.

I colored Kiki with this week's Copic Color Challenge colors of light grey, cherry pink & lime green. Maybe another twist of fate that it matches my Be Loved paper. I outlined a few parts of her headband, dress and ice cream with my spica glitter pens.

The Dets:
Stamps: CC Designs Sweet Kiki la Rue
Paper: MB notecards, MME be loved
Ink: Memento black & angel pink, copics, spica glitter pen
Accessories: PTI aqua mist ribbon

Monochromatic Mercy

This week's Monday Mania theme on the Club Anya's website is to use a Monochromatic Color scheme. Did I spell that correctly? And I know its a bit cliche but how could I not choose pink. As apparent from my blog, its pretty much my favorite color.

I colored up TGF's Rockstar Anya (who's my current fav) in various shades of pink. Then I used a bit of stickles over her headband and guitar and thought it be a nice touch to put the diamond glaze over it all too. B/c guitars should be shiney and sparkly. Only I got really impatient and didnt want to let the glaze dry overnight, so I whipped out my heat gun. Really. Bad. Idea. The glue got all weird and really white and clumpy in all the wrong places. So I kinda wiped it all off. Then covered all my messed up bits in glitter. But I'm just going to say I think the glitter gives the card a bit of dimension...hehe.

Then in trying to decide a layout I remember loving this card by Jodi. Which so happened to be a Mercy sketch. And doesnt Mercy just have the greatest sketches?

The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Rockstar Anya
Paper: MB Sweetheart collection & notecards
Ink: Memento black & copics
Accessories: MS punch, PTI raspberry fizz ribbon, stickles