Sweetie Pie

In my pre-moving *Use-It-OR-Move-It* campaign--I came across this gingham paper. I believe it is from Making Memories. I would bet "dimes to doughnuts" (one of my grandma's sayings) that it has been discontinued for a few years. It has been in my stash for longer than I care to admit.

BUT--I like it with this card--So I am using up the whole sheet making these cards--I think they make a great thank you! (especially for the sweet lady from church who made dh a pie!!!)

Materials:

• Stamps- The Cat's Pajamas


• Paper- Patterned paper; Real Red, Taken with Teal cardstock (SU!); white (GP)


• Ink- Brilliance Graphite Black


• Accessories- paper piercer; slit punch; Nestabilities dies; ribbon; colored pencils/LOMS; 1/16" hand held hole punch

If only I had wings...

Would you like some insight to my sense of humor? I suppose not. So just skip the reading part and go strait to the card. (and if you want to leave a gushing comment--that is cool with me, too)

Tracey drew and made some beautiful stamps of BEAUTIFUL flowers. And what am I drawn to?? The snails!! I immediately thought they would be great with this sentiment from the Mini Positive Words set (which has something for almost every occasion--and then some).

So here is my first *snail* card.

The layout is the brilliant brain child of Julee Tilman--Mojo #26. It pushed me to do some things I don't normally do--which is good. I used three patterns of the Sprout pack from Memory Box.


Starving Artistamps has a wonderful selection of butterflies. I chose this one (and not just because it is called a freak--LOL). It can be found here (p1.6). The butterflies are each stamped with a different color of fluid chalk ink.

The little snail is colored with colored pencils and I used the Gamsol technique. I made the orchid clouds by making my own cloud template and a sponge.

I really had GREAT fun making this card and I am pretty pleased on how it turned out. I need to alter my photo set up because I took almost a dozen pictures of this card--either the butterflies get washed out or the orchid clouds do. I used a bunch different lighting situations and camera setting and back drops. This was the best of the bunch. I think it is time to make a light tent.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek!!

Ocean's 11?

Didn't you hear--George Clooney is designing his own line of stamps??

NOT!!! (*giggle*)

No, but today is lucky for #11 who is Ellie

Scrapbook Mama said...
Well these would be my first w/this
company
(I'm a stamping newbie but these stamps really made me stop I am loving
potrait kind of stamps and I love to color them its so much fun.:)-Ellie

Hurrah for Ellie!

Thanks everyone for playing!!!!

For You Teacher

I was just playing around with this Doodle Factory Monkey. I got a new Galaxy marker at my local Ben Franklin (it is a small store, but the closest thing I have to craft supplies for MILES around). It shows up marvelously on the black!

The Monkey's name is Numnum. I think he is sweet in a weird way. His coloring is darker than what is in the picture--I am working on adjusting my photo taking set up. At the bottom I used the circle background stamp.

Such a fun card to make.

I am so glad you stopped by!!

Whispering Birds

Once again I was inspired by Julee's Mojo Challenge, this one is #25.

I also used the color challenge colors. I will NOT say I was inspired by these colors--but rather challenged by them. The colors were Pumpkin Pie, Orchid Opulence and Certainly Celery.

I have to admit that the dp from ki Memories saved this card.

The black label was made by sticking one end of the paper through the bottom of the File Tab punch.

SO today is the final day do sign up for my Blog Candy. I will draw tomorrow at noon.
Thanks for playing!!

Painted Grace

Normally I am not a big Michael Strong fan--but this latest technique that he demonstrated on TV Weekly's Scrapbook Lounge had me fascinated. He called it Divide and Conquer.

I painted three colors (acrylic craft paint) on the dark grey cardstock (two greens and a turquoise). When those were dry--I dry brushed gold in a hap-hazard criss cross manner. When that was dry I stamped the main image and the background with Brilliance Graphite Black.

Around the main image I scored a frame. Then I folded (to the back) and sanded the folds with sandpaper. I mounted that image on black cardstock.

The black scalloped border on the right was created with a slit punch and sponged with the gold paint.

The gold dots on the right were created with a pencil eraser and more gold paint. The dots on the right (very faint in the photo) were made with my embossing stylus.

This main image is available from Starving Artistamps OR you can win it from my blog candy drawing HERE.

Reminder: There is a Full Sheet Special at Starving Artistmps.

• From now until February 27th Buy one 8 1/2 x 11 full sheet of unmounted rubber stamps, get one sheet of ezmount orginal cling for it free! *Offer valid on new orders for full sheets only, not valid on sets or individual images. To take advantage of this offer, simply place an order for a qualifying sheet. The cling will automatically come with it. If you need to order additional cling, just add that item to your shopping cart as usual.
• AND for an additional 10% off use the discount code julidis (or on other orders, too)

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

More Grace

I instantly had a bond with the *Grace Girls* stamps because my oldest daughter is named Grace. But this card is inspired by my sweet niece, Carly. She lives on the west coast so I only get to see her twice a year.



Carly and Gracie are more than cousins, they are friends. At Christmas and summer visits they are together all of the time giggling and playing. Back when they were littler, their Grandma enjoyed buying them matching outfits. Carly is a year older than my daughter, but a couple of inches shorter (and they were the same size as preschoolers). My daughter has fair and freckled skin and red hair and round eyes--Carly has cinnamon skin (her word for it) almond eyes, and ebony hair. But when they dressed alike--we would often get the girls confused (wink-wink). The features of this girl on this card are inspired by Carly.

This is much shinier in real life--the cut out fish, the fish in her hair, and her eyes are covered with dimensional adhesive.

Materials:
Stamps: Grace Girls and Birds n' Fish;
Paper: old olive, cool Caribbean, taken with teal, black and white cardstock;
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black; taken with teal-both pigment and dye ink;
Accessories: fibers; foam tape; colored pencils(Sanford Prismacolor); Glassy Glaze (Judikins); circle die (Nestabilities); clear embossing powder

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to sign up for the BLOG CANDY!!

BLOG CANDY TIME

It is time for me to give away some blog candy!!

Tracey from Starving Artistamps has given me the opportunity to give away TWO stamp sets!


These are sooo fun to work with!! It is like FUNKY and natural all rolled together into one.

What do you need to do??? Just leave a comment on this post telling me what stamp from Starving Artistamps sparks your interest. You don't have to leave a link or the catalog number. Just the name and how it is interesting to YOU.



This blog candy will be open until Noon Eastern Time on Wednesday, February 27th.

About this card:

I stamped this Grace Girl with Chestnut Roan Fluid Chalk Ink (by Clearsnap) on to some off white textured cardstock.

She is colored with colored pencils (Prismacolor + Odorless Mineral Spirits technique). Masked and sponged with Ruby Red ink.



The main image is inked on the edges with Creamy Brown Fluid Chalk Ink, matted with Ruby Red cardsock, and mounted with foam tape onto Chocolate Chip cardstock.

The leave are also stamped with Chestnut roan on to Memory Box *Sprout* paper.

The sentiment *Grace* is stamped with Creamy Brown and the sentiment *Beauty* is stamped with Dark Brown. Hemp thread was used to embellish.

Also remember that there is a deal at Starving Artistamps HERE (until Feb. 25). PLUS you could save an additional 10% by using the discount code julidis.

I can't wait to see what stamps you folks pick!!!

More Inspiration

Today the new host for the Inspiraton Challenge , Smiling Stef, at Splitcoast Stampers inspired us with a piece of art by Charlie Harper.

I love the modernistic feel to this. It is like the 40's and the 70's all rolled together for me.

I immediately thought the Red Castle canaries from Staving Artists would work so well for this challenge! (which are on special--with a free sheet of cling foam).

I am not a birder--though I find birding fascinating. I live in a birder's haven--we often get people from across the country coming to this area to bird watch. I wish I knew what kind of birds these are so I could color them better. But I don't--SO I just decided to have fun. My bird probably does not exist in nature--but that is the fun of stamping and creating--making it all your own.

Now, when I work with an inspiration piece--I look at the piece as I draw up a plan. Once I start--I usually don't look back. I believe it is meant to be an inspiration--not a challenge to re-create the piece.

The bird is stamped with Brilliance ink on watercolor paper. I used waterolor crayons to color the bird. I love that they are a little more opaque than die ink. They are also much easier to move around on the paper. The blue crayon is from Stampin' Up! but the white, grey and black crayons that I used are from Lyra.

To make the background I dug into my scraps and played with them till they were visually balenced. I kind of like the stylized background contrasted with the semi-realistic main image.

I was a fun challenge. Perfect for my semi-quiet Saturday morning.

Used Stamp Sale

I am no longer a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator so I am selling the stamps (current and retired) that aren't getting to see much ink lately.



Key {WU}= Well Used—some staining; {GU}=Gently Used; {NUM}=New Un-Mounted

Stamps for Sale:
Vases in Vogue {GU} $30
Around the Block {GU} $3
Blossoms Abound {GU} $17
Collage Alpha and Numbers {GU} $15 gone
Do The Hula {WU} $14 gone
Garden Silhouettes {WU} $20-gone
Give Thanks {GU} $17
Happy Occasions {GU} $4
Haute Couture {WU} $10 gone
I’m Here {GU}$12 gone
Loads of Love + Accessories {GU} $22 gone
Lexicon of Love {WU} $4
Noble Deer {GU} $14
Polka Dots and Paisley {GU} $10
Quick and Cute {GU} $5
Summer by the Sea {WU} $14
Time Well Spent {NUM} $30 gone
Too Terrific Tags {GU} $3
Zoofari {GU} $16 gone

Accessories:
Wheel Guide: (no packaging) $5 gone
Standard Wheel Handle $3
Jumbo Wheel Handle $4.50
Adoring Hearts Jumbo Wheel $5
Rough Texture Wheel $5
Leaf Prints Standard Wheel $3

Shipping Additional:
All items shipped in Priority Mail Flat Rate Box/Envelope (which ever is smallest) so $4.60 ($9 to Canada) or $8.95 ($23 to Canada). I am not very flexible on this, as I have gotten burnt in shipping costs in the past.

Pay Pal payments only. My e-mail (please put stamp sale in the subject line) julesimama@hotmail.com.

Thanks.

Save 10%

You can get TEN PERCENT off of your next order at Starving Artistamps!!!!!
Just tell them that I sent you! And the way you do this is by entering the code julidis when asked for discount codes. (Note: this can not be combined with anyother offer.)

This is a GREAT time to shop there!!!!
There are some new flower stamps both silhouette and with detail, and Starving Artistamps has purchased the line Doodle Factory (love those little guys).

So go forth and SHOP!!

Edited to add:
This 10% off can be used with the current full sheet sale going on now.
What a great deal! Full sheet of stamps PLUS Free Cling Foam with 10% off.
SWEET!!

Mamas, Don't Let Your Kids Get Bored!

My kids had another snow day, today.

I had things I needed to get done today--so I let them entertain themselves this morning.

AND this is what they came up with.

This is a baby from a Doggie Daycare set. It is a delightful little set where a set of quintuplets with magnets in their heads are to be taken care of by a dog. The set has about a trillion tiny pieces, of which 1.5

million got lost within the first week.

For some reason my son (age 11) and my daughter (age 9) thought it would be a cool (pun intended) idea to freeze a baby in a cup of water.

So, let this be a warning to other mom's--Don't let your kids get bored!!

You have been warned!!!

Another Go at Mojo....

I thought I would give Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday sketch challenge another shot.


This week's sketch can be seen here.


The background is not Designer Paper, it is a stamp. I just LOVE this background stamp from Starving Artistamps!! It is called Fern Leaf Tooled Leather Background. I quickly watercolored inbetween the leaves using my watercolor crayons. Grey crayon on the light grey paper and Black crayon on the dark grey paper.

The Rocket is stamped with Brilliance Graphite ink. For what I own--it works best with these stamps. The rocked and hearts are colored with PrismaColor pencils. The "smoke" hearts are stamped with SU!'s Real Red classic ink--twice without re-inking.

I inked the chipboad heart with red pigment ink and embossed it with SU!'s Iridescent Ice embossing powder.

The ribbon look frightenly exactly like what was in the sketch--but that was not my intent--it was just what looked best out of what I had.

Thanks Julee for the FUN sketch!

Cat's Pajamas Catch Up!

It has been a few days since I have posted since I have been sick with yucky upper respiratory stuff.

I received new Cat's Pajamas stamps last week and have been working with them a bit. They are such fun images!

Those who know me know that I am a sucker for a frog. And this little frog prince is just WAY too cute.




For the Layout I was inspired by the Featured Stamper Challenge on Splitcoast stampers. This weeks stamper is Sarah Green. I had fun paging through her gallery. I loved the layers of THIS card.





I changed a few things to help the card work for my purposes. Since I used patterned paper for the card--I didn't use as many flowers. I also moved the ribbons (since there were fewer flowers). The patterned paper is Basic Grey's Perhaps from the 6" x 6" pad. I love this size because the patterns are smaller than the BIG sheets.



This next card is a softie.

When I started with Stampin' Up! four years ago--I did not like Sage Shadow. But I have to admit it has grown on me. For one thing--I have stopped trying to make it work with the Soft Subtles colors (though it plays VERY nicely with the newer Bashful Blue). It compliments neutrals nicely (because of its grey undertones).

I love this dp (the sage with the cream dots) from K & Co. I got in it a pack from my local dollar store. The background dp is from KI Memories that I have had for years--I love it and I was always afraid to cut into it. Well, since I am moving this summer I am in *USE IT OR MOVE IT* mode (and I don't want to move it!!).

The little hearts are from a punch from the $ Spot at Target Department store. Not a very sharp punch (kind of you get what you pay for). I have done the old punch through foil thing fore ever. But it still does not like cardstoch. *sigh*

Lastly there is this little card. I only say little because of the little flying envelope image.

I often think that mixing Off-White (Vanilla) with White is a card fashion faux pax. Much like mixing gold and silver jewelry.

But there are times in both cases that it works. Here I used the off white to highlight the white. The dp (more Perhaps from Basic Grey) helps me out a bit by having both in it .

Well, I have a few more cards to go with this set. But this is what I came up with thus far.

Thanks for stopping by. And stay tuned---there may be something SWEET as CANDY in the future!! ;)

BTW--Have you seen the Sticky post above about the discount??? It is a limited time offer (not sure how limited) so check it out.

Attention:

You are now reading an award winning blog!!!




I received this award from my good friend Shelly. She has just started (or rather just resurrected) a blog called Stamp with Shelly. She has some AWESOME stamped artwork there--so check it out!

Tammy--Stamp Happy

Donna--Dee's Studio

Lynda--Stamp Act

Rose Ann--Paper Delightz

Andria--Stampin' in the Prairies

I hope you can take some time to check these out!!

Thanks so much Shelly!!

And thank you for stopping by! (Stamping projects will be posted tomorrow--just need some batteries for my camera.)

CAKE?????

I love cake! (and it shows) I also love birthdays (though I STINK at getting cards out on time). And to me, one of the best parts of birthdays is cake.


Sadly my family does not share my feelings on this. My son usually chooses a pan of brownies or a BIG cookie for his birthday *cake* and my older daugher chooses pie. My in-laws love this--as they do not like cake either. Thankfully, my little daugher is still hooked on tradition and chooses cake (always chocolate with pink icing) for her birthday.


I love this image and sentiment from Eat Cake Graphics! The dog is even named *Cupcake*!! How cute is that!!?!!

The little cupcake is from a clear $ set my mom picked up at Michaels for me. It has a cherry on top that is solid and not outlined--so when you ink up the cupcake in black as an outline--you get a black cherry. Now, don't get me wrong, I love black cherries (YUMMY!) but not BLACK cherries. YKWIM???? So when I use this stamp, I think there will always be an embellishment of some sort on top!

Materials:

• Stamps: Cupcake the dog and *Did Someone Say Cake!?!* from Eat Cake Graphics; cupcake from Studio G
• Papers: Polka dotted paper from Paper Studio and alpha paper from ki Memories; White, black and red cardstock;
• Ink: StazOn Jet Black; Brilliance Graphite
• Accessories: Ribbon, Clear Ep, Glassy Glaze, Diamond Stickles, Jewels, Prismacolor pencils

Have a great day--and hopefuly a bit of cake along the way!!

Cards from Nature and an Announcement!

First the cards.

These are using the Seed stamps by Red Castle from Starving Artistamps.
This first card is inspired by the Inspiration Challenge over on Splitcoast Stampers. The room did not have a lot of color but many shades of white and lots of texture. Very calming and casual with the low contrast furnishings.

I would LOVE to have a room like that--but with three kids--I don't see it happening ANY time soon.

I stamped the seed pods with white pigment ink and then embossed it with white embossing powder. I added the word *pure* from the stamp used here. I only inked the word *pure* (and wiped off the surrounding words--just to be sure).

I double matted the main image to mimic some of the archetectural details in the room.

The hemp twine and the twill tape were inspired by the rug and cotton couches in the room.

I stamped a last seed pod in the corner--stamped off first to get a subtle look.



This second card was inspired by the Card Positioning Systems website, and it is sketch #50.

The harlequin diamonds a like serendipity squares. Stamped with various inks and stamps; masked seed pods, and sponged. It is an easy techinque that I haven't done in quite a while. It is a SURE way to get accents that coordinate with any inks and stamps you have. I embossed the edges of the diamonds with gold embossing powder.

The same stamps I used for the serendipty diamonds I used for the brown cardstock background.

In addition to the seed stamps I also used some texture stamps from Starving Artistamps. The metal accents are faux metal-- made from one of these stamps.

The main image is also embossed with gold. Then I watercolored the image with olive die ink and masked the image and sponged a bit of tan ink.

So that was the cards and here is the announcement:

You can get TEN PERCENT off of your next order at Starving Artistamps!!!!!

Just tell them that I sent you! And the way you do this is by entering the code julidis when asked for discount codes. (Note: this can not be combined with anyother offer.)

This is a GREAT time to shop there!!!! There are some new flower stamps both silhouette and with detail, and Starving Artistamps has purchased the line Doodle Factory (love those little guys).

So go forth and SHOP!!


...and thanks for stopping by!!

Pretty Love Bird

Sharon (NoTimetoStamp) has issued a pretty challenge. To focus on the extra pretty things we have in our stash. It was supposed to be simple--but my card kind of ---- um----grew.

I started with this pretty Canary stamp from Starving Artistamps. I stamped it on SU! Very Vanilla, cut it out, and sponged on layers of ink--Lightest to darkest. Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, and then Regal Rose. This was just about the only part I was able to keep simple.

The Nestabilities scallop circles have pretty fibers running through them. The white has gold tinsel running through it. The butter yellow has white fibers running through it. They are prettier in real life.

Then there are the pretty Prima Mulberry flowers .

The background paper is the pretty Basic Grey *Perhaps* from a 6" x 6" pad.

I love the pretty ribbon with the word *Love* printed on it in gold.

Finally the pretty Stickles ---I used diamond this time since it has gold flecks to go with the tinsel paper and the gold printing on the ribbon.

This was FUN!!!

I hope you can play, too!