Whatever Floats By

Hello everyone!  This weekend I have been a busy bee in the craft room.  Finally, I got some time and got my mojo back on track.  We'll see how long it lasts.  I wanted to share with you a card I made with a TiddlyInks digital image, Whatever Floats By.  I really love the Tiddly Inks images.  They are so cute.  This one is from the gothic category, although it's not a very gothic scene.

 

I colored her up with my Copics  and then cut her out.  The patterned papers are from my 6x6 stash and probably from a previous SSS card kit.  I just thought the cloud paper was perfect. The sentiment is from CTMH called Heartfelt Birthday Wish.  This is one of those great little $2.95 stamps.  I have really gotten some mileage out of this one.  I used my Copics and gave it just a hint of color. 

Here's a few challenges where I'll be posting this card:

Tiddly Inks -  Let's Go Gothic

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Crafty Hazelnuts  Patterned Paper June Challenge - Use Patterned Paper

Craft Your Passion Challenge 267 - Anything Goes

Crafty Time Challenges - Girls Girls Girls

I'll be back soon to share the rest of my creations. Thanks for stopping by!

Gorjuss with Zig

Hello everyone!  I thought I would share some cards I made with my new toys.  Everywhere I have been looking online lately has been talking about Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  I certainly wasn't going to be left out.  I put my order in as soon as I was convinced I needed some (about 2 videos worth of time..lol).   They came in last week.  I bought the 12 pack, for starters, to see how I would like them.  They offer some amazing vibrant colors.  The real brush tip is incredible for detailing. I really, really love these markers. 

As soon as I got them in, of course, I had to try them.  I had some brand new Gorjuss stamps I had yet to use.  These stamps have larger images, which I find much easier to color in watercolor.  I stamped the same image on two different watercolor papers.  The first I stamped on Strathmore Ready Cut 5x7 paper with Stazon black ink. 

 

I just love these vibrant colors.  I colored her hair, clothing and hearts with the Zig markers.  None of these colors are mixed, they are straight out of the marker.   Because I was scared to try to mix any of the 12 primary colors to get a skin tone, I used some new Prima pencils I have.  These are from the  Julie Nutting Hair & Skin Tones set.  This, too, is a great set.  I have a horrible time getting skin tones with watercolor.  I bought this set and problem solved.   The background and floor was done with distress markers in Weathered Wood and Broken China.  For the floor I colored directly onto the paper and then added water. I came back in with some of the grey from Zig to add some shadows.  The Broken China behind her I colored on my block and then using a water brush painted it onto my background. The sentiment is from the Happy to Be Friends set from CTMH and stamped in Versafine black onyx ink.

Here is the same stamp again. This time I stamped it on Distress Watercolor Cardstock that was precut to fit on an A2 card front.  

 

This one is colored in the same way. Distress markers for the background and floor and Prima pencils for the skin.  The rest is my new Zig markers.

So, for the big question, do I love these new markers?  Yes, I do. The colors are incredible.  They do act a little different, so there is a learning curve to be mastered, but they are awesome.  I will definitely be investing in more colors. I'm thinking the softer, pale colors will be something I would enjoy as well as these rich vibrant ones.  Will they replace all my other markers?  Nope.  I just don't feel you can have too many options when it comes to coloring :) But I think I will find myself reaching for these often. 

Over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, this week's challenge is to use your favorite technique or product.  Coloring is definitely  my favorite thing to do and these products are certainly on my favorite products list.  I'll be posting one of these Gorjuss girls over there.   

That's it for me today.  Have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Birthday Girl

Hello everyone!  How crazy has May been? It's always hectic in May for us.  It's the end of school, banquets and ceremonies, dance rehearsals, testing, etc, and most importantly to us is my daughter's birthday.  I always try to make her a card.  This year it was plain and simple even though it was somewhat of a monumental birthday.  She's 15! Yikes!

 

The image is from Saturated Canary.  I just love these little darlings.  They are so fun to color, too.  I colored her up with my Copics.  The sentiment is from CTMH's stamp set, Joyful Birthday.  It's one of my go-to sets for the Happy Birthday sentiment.  She is stamped on CTMH White Daisy and mounted on a piece of purple cardstock from my stash.  Of course, I couldn't resist putting a little wink of stella on her bow and balloon and I threw in a few sequins for good measure.

 That's it for me today.   Happy Belated Birthday to my baby girl.  Watch out motorists, there's a new student driver in town!

 Thanks for stopping by!

 

National Scrapbooking Day

Hello everyone!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a very productive National Scrapbooking Day.  I did not get anything I wanted to get done yesterday, but in commemoration of the day I thought I would share one of my most recent scrap projects.  As you know I am constantly working trying to keep my books up to date.  Thanks to Studio J, I have just about conquered that.  Throughout my books I have both Studio J and traditional pages.  I think they work well together.  Here's what I have been doing to keep up with her dance album. 

 

All of the portraits that are taken, other than those I take and we get in 5x7, I do a traditional page.  I had a stash of this retired paper from CTMH called Believe.  It went well enough with her Christmas recital costume.  I included the ticket to the show and a few die cut poinsettias.  I kept it very simple. This paper was great because it just so happens I was able to do the recital pictures in Studio J with the same paper.

 

It would have taken me forever to print, configure, and then scrap all these pictures.  But with Studio J, I did all three in a just a short while in one evening.    I love how these turned out.  


If you want to check out Studio J, just follow the links on this page, over in the margin, or the tab up top.  It's free to create, so go give it a whirl! 

That's it for me today.  I hope everyone has been able to celebrate NSD.  I think I shall continue to celebrate. I have some more dance pictures to do.  At the end of this month is our next recital, so there will be even more!

Happy Scrapping!

Laughing Lola Explosion

Hello everyone!  As I mentioned before I made my first attempt at the exploding box album.  The same friend that had a birthday this past weekend had sent me a pin saying she thought these were neat and wanted one.  So, of course, I made her one for her birthday.

Here's the finished box.  I love the Laughing Lola paper pack, which is now retired.  The colors and patterns are funky.  I used the B&T from the paper pack and cardstocks in Black, Thistle, and a blue from my stash (maybe Heavenly Blue (retired) or Sky).
 

This is a closer view of the top.  This project takes at least four sheets of cardstock.  By cutting out the corners to make your layers look like overgrown plus signs, you get some leftovers that you can use as photo mats and accents.    I used the sentiment from the new CTMH Wavy Blooms stamp set on the top.  I heat embossed it with Ranger platinum embossing powder.  I love the color and it's super fine. 

This is what it looks like exploded when you take the top off.  There is a place for 12 pictures if you use just the top side each layer.  I wish I had taken pictures of each layer before I put it together to show.  I tried not to over decorate the photo mats because it doesn't leave much room for pictures when you do. 

I used all kinds of things as embellishments.  I used some punched shapes, die cuts sparkles, and pieces from the complements set for this paper pack.    Here's a closer look at a couple of the photo mats from the outer layers.

 

I made this one very generic because I didn't have a clue what kind of pictures she would be putting in it.  You could really make these personal and specific for certain holidays  or events.  Mother's day is coming up and this would be a really nice keepsake.  Definitely a labor of love. 

That's it for me tonight.  I hope you all are having a wonderful week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Make a Wish

Hello everyone! Just a quick post tonight.  I had a friend that had a birthday this past weekend, so I made her a little card.  I was playing in the SSS card kit for this month.  The included stamp set is called Big Birthday Wishes.  Perfect!

Super simple card using the Confetti paper pack from CTMH.  The candles and the sentiment are from the SSS card kit stamp set.  I stamped the candles in Pacifica, Thistle, Crystal Blue and Canary. I used our new extra thick twine from CTMH in Thistle as well.  I like the look of the twine and the feel, but it's a little cumbersome to with work with for cards, to me.  I'm thinking it would be better on something larger, or a craft project, because it is so chunky.  But I absolutely love the color.

I decorated the inside of the card with the balloons by using the stamp from the set.  I stamped several balloons in all the ink colors I used on the front.  I would love to show you a picture, but I forgot to take one before I wrote all over the inside of the card..lol.  So you will just have to use your imagination :)

That's it for me tonight.  I also made my first attempt at an exploding box album.  I'm going to try to have that posted soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Hogs and Kisses

Hello everyone!  Just a quick post from me tonight.  I thought I would share a birthday card I made for a friend using the Birthday Farm Animals stamp set from SSS.  This stamp set is adorable.  I have had it for a while, but am just now getting to use it.

 

I colored the little fellow with Copics and then used the coordinating die to cut him out.  The card base is one of a set I picked up from Michaels.  I usually cut my own, but these were on sale and thought I would give them a try.  There were some great colors.  The papers are from my stash.  I threw on some sequins and some glossy accents and called it good. 

The challenge over at SSS Wednesday Challenge Blog this week is Happy Birthday, so I'll be posting my card over there, too.    

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter.  That's it for me tonight.  Thanks for stopping by!