Friday, October 26, 2007

Simply Sendable III

Okay, one last light house and then I will move on!




This one is fairly mono chromatic but there is a touch of butter yellow as light coming from the lighthouse. This card also uses a bit of the spotlighting technique. If I were truly using it it would be completely colored in the white oval.

I chose the word "hope" because I see lighthouses as symbols of hope--they light the passage to safe harbors, warn of dangers, and a reminder that we are not alone.

Thank you for you patience with this series.
Materials Used:
  • Stamps: Lighthouse (Inkadinkadoo); Everyday Flexible Phrases (SU!);
  • Paper: Basic and Going Grey, Whisper White, and Basic Black (SU!);
  • Ink: StazOn Jet Black
  • Accessories: Distressing tool, Word Window Punch, brad, Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!); Coluzzle templates, Deckle edge scissors (Provo Craft);

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Simply Sendable II

Here is another flattish card--It does have ribbon and dimensionals, but is fairly easy to put in an envelope and hopefully will not require extra postage. (note-The card and the stamping are straight--it is my photography that is askew)



I used a wet watercolor technique on this. Using a watercolor brush and water I went over many of the areas of the stamped image (stamped in Bravo Burgundy)---blurring and coloring as I went. I also watercolored a bit with some Regal Rose ink. Normally when I watercolor I like to use SU!'s Ivory or White naturals, or watercolor paper. But the detail on this stamp was so fine that it just looked smeary on the rougher paper.



The sentiment at the bottom was stamped with Bravo Burgundy Craft ink, embossed, then I applied Pearl Ex, and then re-heated it (the technique is called *heated pearls*). The *faith* is much shinier and much more readable in real life.



Materials Used--


  • Stamps-Lighthouse (Inkadinkadoo); Swirls (Autumn Leaves); Graceful Words (SU!-retired);

  • Paper-Very Vanilla, Bravo Burgundy, Regal Rose (SU!);

  • Ink-Bravo Burgundy Classic/dye and Craft/pigment and Regal Rose Classic;

  • Accessories-Coluzzle templates, sponge, distressing tool, Stickles, dimensionals, ribbon

There will be a couple more in this series--stay tuned.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Simply Sendable

It is that time of year. The time when my *studio* (really a wide hallway--but it makes me feel good to call it a studio) turns into Santa's workshop.



The first project is my dear sweet mother-in-law (NOT tongue in cheek--she really is sweet). She and my father-in-law really enjoy lighthouses. So I picked up this lighthouse stamp by Inkadinkadoo at Hobby Lobby (with a coupon-of course) in the interests of making items for my MIL.

Here is my first card--it is flat--very flat---
Can you believe it?? No Hardware! No Ribbon! No Flowers! No Dimensionals! Not even a Jewel!!

I used Prismacolor pencils to color the image and then stamped Linen Background over top of it. There is a touch of Stickles on the lighthouse's light.

Materials Used:
  • Stamps: Lighthouse (Inkadinkadoo), Linen and Warmest Regards (SU!)
  • Paper: White CS (Georgia Pacific), Basic Black, Not quite Navy, and Garden Green (SU!)
  • Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Going Grey (SU!)
  • Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, LOMS (Low-Odor Mineral Spirits), Stickles

Stay tuned for more Lighthouse cards!!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Rethinking a card

Have you ever finished a card, perhaps even posted, the card and thought...."Nah, that isn't the way it is supposed to be!"?



I do...OFTEN.



But this time it was an easy fix.

This is the card I made (5 x 7):

I went through a few drafts of the penguin (Magenta--they don't sell their wood mounted stamps anywhere on line--so check your local brick and mortar stamp store) before I got the results I was looking for. He is stamped in Jet Black StazOn (on Whisper White paper), colored with black, cool greys and vermilion (feet). I stamped the asterisk (Everyday Flexible Phrases) and the small flower (Baroque Motif) with VersaMark and embossed with white EP. I masked the penguin and the horizon and sponged on Regal Rose then Pretty in Pink Dye ink. I added some shadow in cool greys and some sparkle of snow with some Diamond Stickles.



He is cut out using the Coluzzle template system as well as the Regal Rose mat. The designer paper is from American Crafts and is black and white, but I brayered Pretty in Pink dye ink on it. It is matted with Basic Grey cardstock cut with my dd's decorative edge scissors.



I stamped the Baroque Motif flourish with Going Grey ink and the small flower with Pretty in Pink ink on Pretty in pink cardstock and sponged the edges. It is matted with Regal rose cardsock and Basic Grey cardstock. The ribbon is some bits and pieces I pulled out of my scrap box.



Now here is where I made my mind change. I originally put the Making Memories eyelet word with the snowflake sequin in the corner. I was not happy with the placement (remember to measure twice and punch once) OR the dull finish of the word on the sparkly card. So I yanked off the eyelet word (leaving a good sized hole) and replaced it with a couple of the large sequins layered with a cardstock circle and a jewel.



And Voila:


I am so much happier with the end result!!



I wish all of my "stamper's regrets" could be such easy fixes!!

Friday, October 05, 2007

JBWW Monkey



Sherry (a.k.a. Bad Sherry) and Jeanne (a.k.a JeanneS) have started a blog challenge called *Just Because We Wanna* Challenge. The latest one is a Sketch challenge. This was the perfect sketch for me to use my monkey papers.

I have been wanting to use this monkey paper with my monkey stamp. I wasn't satisfied with my background (too light to go with these papers) so I cut him out and popped his body out (his tail is adhered flat for stability).

I think it turned out to be a happy/smiley card! And a bit different than most of the projects I have been working on lately.

Materials:

  • Stamp: Great Impressions
  • Paper: DP from Reminisce: Close to Cocoa, Summer Sun and Lovely Lilac from SU!
  • Ink: StazOn Jet Black
  • Accessories: PrismaColor Pencils, LOMS, Blending stumps, Stampin Dimensionals from SU!, brads

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Joy comes in the morning......

One of my favorite Bible verses is:

Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:5

It is on the inside of this card. A bit of encouragement to go with the morning coffee.

This card has been knocking around in my head for quite a while now, and finally came together.


The *joy* stamp is from Printworks and was clear embossed, then the steam was stamped over it and a bit of chalk was smeared over it, too. Then I ironed the image face down on some paper towel to remove the bulk of the embossing powder (because some of the ink and chalk stuck to the embossing). The vertical strip is patterned paper that I stamped on (timeworn trim). The corner is dp with an Anna Griffin corner punch.


Materials (All SU! unless noted):


  • Stamps: Like it a Latte and Timeworn trim; Joy by Printworks

  • Ink: Fluid Chalk Ink: Warm Brown and Chestnut Roan by Clearsnap; Classic Dye Ink: Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa

  • Paper: Various Dp's, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip

  • Accessories: Clear EP, Ribbon (unknown source), Ticket Corner Punch, Deco edge scissors (unknown), AG Corner Punch (All Night Media), Chipboard Heart

Thank you so much for looking!!