This and That..

I haven't been been doing much crafty stuff this week. I did make up a couple of card kits for my Wish RAK Birthday Fairy commitments. The good thing about card kits are that you get images/papers you wouldn't normally pick. It gets you out of a rut. The bad thing about card kits is that you get images/papers you wouldn't normally pick. You don't normally pick them since they aren't your style. (GRIN)

Fortunately, I liked both kits I made up. This is a Changito image that I didn't have. I colored him with Copics. He needed a bit of folage, so I used my fern punch.

This image and the felt strip fit right in with the MOJO MONDAY challenge sketch this week (MOJO132). The only thing is that the papers that came with the kit were a bit too busy for the size of the card (4 1/4 square). That's my bad - I should have made a bigger card.

Finally, I need to share this ATC that arrived yesterday from my friend, Jane. She took the picture I posted of Jazz last week and made this "memory" ATC. The timing was perfect, since I had just picked up Jazz's ashes from the vet on the way home. THANKS JANE! It's a wonderful tribute!

GRUNGY STUFF TOMORROW!! (GRIN)

Magnolia Birthday Card

Hello! I had a very nice mini-spring break down in Phoenix. My cousin has a lovely patio and we enjoyed it thoroughly! Then I came home to taxes and a VERY sick dog. Jazz is still in the hospital. Her kidneys had shutdown. UPDATE: I get to bring her home today!!! :D

This was a card kit. Tilda was colored with COPICS. I used this week's SCS sketch challenge (SC272). I sponged Real Red in the center of the circle with the Nestie still on the paper.

Stamps: Magnolia; sentiment Amuse
Paper: SU! designer paper (I think); Real Red, Black, and Certainly Celery cardstock
Ink: Archival Black
Accessories: Copics, border punch, Nesties, paper roses, rhinestones.

SC269 - Counting Daisys Tilda

This was a card kit I just received from one of the last swaps I'm doing for a while. I loved the fresh SPRINGY paper and image. Just perfect for my Norwegian niece, Maria's birthday. I think she could use some SPRING too!
The kit included everything except the sentiment and the log image. I got that out of another card kit.

Stamps: Magnolia, sentiment - Whipper Snapper Designs 29 AGAIN
Paper: unknown
Ink: Memento, Brilliance
Accessories: Copics, ribbon, Martha Stewart grass punch, daisy stickers

Last Valentine 2010!

Here's my last Valentine for 2010! It's also the last card kit I sent in for swapping.

I used last weeks SCS Sketch Challenge (SC266). I only colored Tilda's face and legs. The dress was paper-pieced. The background was airbrushed using Technique Junkies method called Whisped Frames. I've done something similar with Nesties but I didn't use Nesties for this card. I need a little bit more practice with the airbrush to get a smooth look.

Stamps: Magnolia BLOWING KISSES
Paper: white, pink, and designer paper
Ink: Memento
Accessories: Copics, Copic airbrush, ribbon, heart rhinestones, verse sticker, Martha Stewart border punch
Technique Junkies: WHISPED FRAMES

Valentine Card - Love Sweater Tilda

Another card kit I sent in for a swap. This is an old Magnolia stamp called LOVE TILDA. I love this year's Valentine paper colors - pink, rose, and teal.

I used both paper and my heart Nesties for the heart. This time I have managed to use the MOJO MONDAY sketch (MOJO123). However, instead of a square or circle - I used a heart shape.

Stamps: Magnolia LOVE TILDA
Paper: Neenah Solar White, teal heart DP, pink/rose hearts DP
Ink: Memento
Accessories: Copics, branch punch, ribbon, Martha Stewart Heart punch, paper rose, red German glitter, and Nestablities

Valentine Card - Baking Cookies Tilda

I've finally started my Valentine cards! I'm in two card kit swaps that are wrapping up this week. This is one of the kits I provided.

The kit included 2 double-sided papers - here I used one paper (both sides) and a brown out of my own stash. I also used my Slice for the pink swirl on the bottom (you can kind of see it under the pink pearls). And a new branch punch from EK Success.

I also used the Mojo Monday sketch from last week but didn't get this card done in time to submit it. Ah, well...c'est la vie!

Stamps: Magnolida BAKING COOKIES, PaperTrey Ink VINTAGE LABELS, and Stampin Up! EN FRANCAIS
Paper: brown, cream, and double-sided DP
Ink: Memento, Distress Ink: Worn Lipstick
Accessories: glitter, copics, pearls, branch punch, Slice, ribbon, paper flowers, Nestablities

Happy Birthday Donelda!

Donelda is one of my SCS friends and she has a great blog too. Today is her birthday and if US mail/Canadian Post have done their jobs, she should have a card from me. :)

This was a card kit. I just loved the papers that came with it!!

Stamps: Magnolia
Paper: unknown
Ink: Memento
Accessories: Copics, brads, button, Scrapper's Floss, and rhinestone.

Birthday Card Fairy - December

First - tell me honestly what you think of the blog holiday "decorations". Specifically the font colors. I can't tell if they work or not. On my work computer they look ok, but on my home computer they're a bit obnoxious. (sigh)

So, really quick here are the Birthday Fairy cards I'm sending out to the WISH RAK (random acts of kindness) for the December birthday girls. I used card kits again.

I did two of the Rubber Romance cards in the same layout.

Stamps: Rubber Romance
Paper: unknown
Ink: unknown
Accessories: Copics, glitter pen, prima flowers, ribbon

I used last week's SCS sketch challenge (SC256) for this layout.

Stamps: Stampendous Fluffles
Paper: unknown
Ink: unknown
Accessories: nesties

And with the extra image and paper I did this version. I used my Memory Maker's tag maker and a turquoise glitter frame.

Stamps: Stampendous Fluffles
Paper: unknown
Ink: unknown
Accessories: glitter tag frame, ribbon, Martha Stewart border punch

NOW...off to work on my first TIM HOLTZ tag....check back later today!

Ladybug Tilda

This is a card kit from a swap (yes, I do a lot of swapping)! Isn't she cute?!? Every thing displayed came in the kit: papers, images, ribbon, flower/crystal brad. All I had to do was color Tilda with my Copics. I used the MAGNOLIA-LICIOUS November sketch for this card, but I wish now that I had flipped it so the red band was at the bottom. Tilda seems to be floating a bit, which I didn't really notice until I started to post the picture. ;)

Join me tomorrow for another Crystal Snowflake tutorial!! And the KLSNS monthly challenge that I will be announcing!

A Wicked (green) Witch

My friend, Carolyn (of the pear butter fame), has a daughter, Missy, who is a senior at the Univ of Nebraska-Lincoln. Two weekends ago, Missy was nominated for homecoming queen. And while she didn't win, she is a remarkable young woman who always had a kind word and smile.

As I was looking through all the pictures from homecoming weekend it was a SEA OF RED. When it came time to make Missy's Halloween card this year, I decided she needed a change of pace. Since she's also a big fan of the musical WICKED, I decided she needed a green witch.

This was a card kit I received in a recent Magnolia swap. It came with two witch images. I originally colored both images to see which one I liked better but couldn't decide. So, I decided on a flip-flop card. If I had been thinking ahead, I would have done both images in the same clothes and same hair color, but what the heck! The only thing that didn't come in the kit was the "moon" sentiment and the spider web border.

Stamps: Magnolida Witch Tilda; A Muse sentiment, Just Rite Alphabet
Paper: unknown
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, Martha Stewart spider web punch, glitter pens, EK Success Bat Lace Punch (bats only), spider brads, and ribbon

Happy October!!

Fall is definitely in the air in Colorado!! There's a nip in the air this morning. Driving home from work last night, through Ute Pass Canyon the color was amazing! We don't get the reds and oranges of the East but those aspen can bring on the GOLD!

These two cards are from the leftovers of a card kit I sent in for swap. The swap was for Magnolia images but Hanglar & Stanglar images are so close I don't think anybody will mind.

Hanglar & Stanglar is a Swedish company that doesn't sell outside of Sweden or Norway. Fortunately, I have a Norwegian connection. This image of the little girl with a chicken is one that I own, but I also have a SCS friend that keeps me supplied with H&S images. She just sent this one to me as well. Hen girl is colored with Copics and highlighted with several different glitter pens. I also used a white Souffle' pen to "polka dot" her dress. The paper was double-sided polka dots and both sides are visible here.

Stamps: Hanglar & Stanglar FLICKA med HONA och AGG (girl w/chicken & egg); PaperTrey Ink (sentiment)
Paper: unknown pattern; Neenah Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Really Rust
Accessories: Copic markers, Prima flower, button, glitter pens, Souffle' pen, and Martha Stewart fence punch.

The second card used the ribbon in the kit and the other paper. I cut 3 ovals with my Nestabilities. The smallest oval was airbrushed in light blue/aqua. The rest of the details are the same.

Stamps: Hanglar & Stanglar FLICKA med HONA och AGG (girl w/chicken & egg); PaperTrey Ink (sentiment)
Paper: Unknown pattern; Neenah Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Really Rust
Accessories: ribbon, Nestabilities, Copic markers and airbrush, Souffle' pen, and glitter pens.

Finally, I wanted to share the back of my H&S girl. I haven't taken a formal Copic certification class but I have the good fortune to have another friend who is a certified teacher. I've been following her tips for a while now and love how my Copic coloring is turning out. Her #1 tip to me was to be sure the ink was saturating the paper. You can see from the back that I'm getting it well saturated! (Thanks, Heather!) A well saturated paper allows the Copic inks to flow together and blend.

Birthday Card Fairy - October

Last month I shared that I had joined the Wish RAK Birthday Fairy team - sending birthday cards to ladies in the group. I also plan to use the LARGE number of card kits I've gathered over the last year. These are the October cards.

I love watching the Food Network shows where they decorate cakes! And this Rubber Romance girl turned out to be my favorite card of this bunch! I *HATED* the paper that came with the image. In fact, the only part of this card kit I used was the image and the ribbon. The flowered paper came from a DCWV stack. I hoard paper and decided as long as I was using kits I should use paper I have on hand too. "Cake girl" was colored with Copics and glitter pens. Sentiment by Amuse stamped in SU! Handsome Hunter. This is a color combo I intend to use again (teal, dark green, and pink) - it's a YUMMY combo!



I love Magnolia Tilda stamps. This is Tilda with Lilacs (I think). She's colored with Copics and a glitter pen (center of the flowers). I cut her out - keeping close to the line but leaving about 1/8"border. The flowered paper was two-sided and I had a hard time picking which side to use. I used my EK Success border punch for the Fleur de Lis edge. The sentiment is by Amuse.



This cute kit included the dotted, stripped, and solid blue paper. It also include these cute plastic discs and squares (I didn't use them). They add just a bit of shine to the card. The image is Penny Black and was colored with Copics. The sentiment is Denami.



This was a very simple card kit with a Stamping Bella image. She was colored with Copics. The image was stamped in an ink that smeared even after I heat set it, but it wasn't extremely noticeable. I highlighted her with a clear glitter pen that gives her a shine but doesn't really change the color (see the spots on her dress).



TGIF!!

Not a Halloween Card...

Ok, I know I said that I was ready to work on Halloween, but this is a card kit I'm doing for a swap. I did the "prototype" using this week's SCS - SC244.

The little nutcracker is a High Hopes stamp. He's stamped on Neenah Solar White in Memento.



The snowflake is a technique I learned on Anne Wight's SWEET & SASSY blog. I love this snowflake!! I do mine a bit differently but it's the same basic technique. Guess that might be a tutorial for another day. *wink*

Here are the Copics I used to color the Nutcracker. And one glitter pen. It's not a Spica but close.

Stamps: High Hopes NUTCRACKER
Paper: Basic Grey WASSAIL, Neenah Solar White (aka PTI white)
Ink: Memento
Accessories: Ribbon, Copics, rhinestone, glass glitter, snowflake punches, Martha Stewart border punch, and button


One Christmas card down....

Eddie the Vampire

Here's today's SCS Sketch challenge.


As I posted earlier, I've been in quite a few card kit swaps in the last few months. This is the most recent - Magnolia Card Kits. This little vampire is *NOT* a Magnolia stamp. He's a Hanglar & Stanglar image. They're are almost impossible to get unless you have a friend/relative living in Sweden or Norway. Fortunately, I do!

I just love this little vampire with his garlic rope. I colored him with Copics. Out lining him with the very lightest blue/violet I have (BV000).

After I got him colored, I used one of my long, narrow Nestabilities rectangles to cut and emboss the edges.


All the Copics I used to color Eddie.



This is the inside of the card. I used some of the left over scraps to decorate the bottom edge of the card.

So! One card down for Halloween...many more to come!

Stamps: Hanglar & Stanglar: Dracula med vitlök (Dracula with garlic)
Paper: Paper Studio, Neenah Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Ribbon, Nestabilities rectangles, bat brads, Copics

Birthday Card Fairy - September

I've done a lot of swapping for card kits in recent months. A card kit is 2 sheets of 6x6 designer paper, 2-3 copies of an image, 12" of ribbon, and some embellishments. I have so many card kits now that I decided I needed to start using them. So I joined a group on SCS, that sends birthday cards to ladies in the RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) group. These are the card kits I did up for the September birthdays I was assigned.


This image is from Rubber Romance. I don't know the name of it. The kit included some fabulous graphic turquoise/black papers. I used the SCS sketch (SC242) of the week for the layout. The sentiment and polka dot center circle are from my weekend purchase at the Expo! Both are Denami Stamps.


I don't know the designer of this stamp, but I loved the designer paper that came with it. Those large flip flops are perfect with this image. I cut a tag shape and then put the plastic flowers on the edge of the tag. I used a masking technique to give the feel of sand and surf. And again, I used the Denami sentiment and polka dot center.


This Riley kit was so fun! I masked the surf and sand before punching out the image with my Marvy Giga scallop circle. Then sponged around the out side edge with SU! Not Quite Navy. The brown "sand" paper came with the kit but I used my sand castle punch from EK Success and then sponged brown ink along the border to darken the "sand". The sentiment is by Amuse.


And finally a House Mouse image. I love House Mouse but the images are often so large that there's not much that can be done. Fortunately, this kit didn't need more than the designer paper and the image.