Copics 2!!!

Okay, this may a bit mean to post since you can't see the full cards, but I have finally finished designing my Copics 2 class. Yep, that's right....it's ready to go!!! Here are the first dates I have scheduled:

Monday, August 24th 6:30-8:30pm
Wednesday, September 30th 6:30-8:30pm
Sunday, October 4th 12:30-2:30pm

I hope one of those dates works for everyone. We will make four cards and the topics will include: feather blending, two techniques for fading to white, creating texture with blending solution, adding watercolor and colored pencil to your Copic work, and stamping with Copic markers. Please check the supply list as it has changed from the Crazy for Copics class. I get asked about this class all the time, so I can't tell you how glad I am to finally be able to report some news!

Inspired By

I thought I would post another card I did for the Hero Arts "inspired by" challenge. I designed today's card after seeing this card by Jennifer McGuire. I think it is always fun to look at another card and change it a bit to see what develops. The background paper is by Crate. Man, I love their paper!

I also wanted to post a copy of the card I made in my video so that you can see what it looks like standing still and not moving around in my hands.

On a final note, I had some exiting crafting news last week. I won Spellbinder's grand prize which consists of all the items in their CHA release. Woohoo!! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this.

New Video

I finished another video and thought I would share. You can either watch the embedded video on my site, or you can watch it directly on YouTube here. It is a technique video highlighting how to stamp with Twinkling H2Os and features some of the latest Memory Box products. I am in love with the new papers!

I {Heart} Hero Arts Blog Hop

One of my daily Internet visits is to the Hero Arts blog, and I think it has really grown into a fun stamping community/family. I have been using HA images since I first began stamping and remember clearly what it was like to mail in cards for their contests. Fun, but a very sterile experience. It is so much more rewarding to upload cards and get instant love and support. After all, who can't use more of that in their life?

Today, some of the HA blog regulars are posting Hero cards in their own version of a blog hop. The challenge was to create a thank you card using some of your favorite HA stamps. I used a flower from one of my favorite sets, but I have since lost the stamp numbers. I'm not sure how much that matters anyway since it is a discontinued set. I then paired it a saying from the Thanks a Million clear set (CL304). To finish the card, I layered everything onto paper from Basic Grey's Lemonade collection.

More Christmas in July

I made quite a few cards for Impression Obsession to take to CHA, so I thought I would share another with you (even though it is another Christmas card).

Today's card features a brand new IO poinsettia image and saying. The paper is by Penny Black. I used some of this paper for a class a couple of years ago, and I still feel as though I am still up to my eyeballs in it. Perhaps I bought a few too many sheets. :)

I colored the poinsettia with Copic markers and chose some of the leaves to be red and some to be green. To finish the flower, I added some gold pearls from Memory Box.

Speaking of Memory Box, the new "What's in the Box" release is the 25th. Woohoo!

For those of you who shop at Angela's, don't forget to join us at our anniversary party on August 1st. You can find information about the day here. Also, please consider bringing items for our community outreach project. We are collecting items for Facets, which is a local non-profit organization which provides assistance to the homeless in Fairfax County. They are especially helpful to homeless families. A complete list of what we are collecting can be found here.

Outside My Zone

Last week the Hero Arts challenge was to make a card that was inspired by something on the Hero Arts website whether it was a card, technique, or whatever. I saw a card I really liked which you can see here.

I loved the shape and color of the original as well as the use of buttons. For my take on the card, I decided to change the shape and add a lot more buttons. What I ended up with is a card I like but one that I am not sure people would guess was made by me. I guess it is good to sometimes make things you wouldn't normally consider in your comfort zone. I did have to laugh though because someone commented that they liked the buttons I sewed on my card. I didn't go THAT far out of my zone. Those babies have waxed linen thread though the holes and are glued onto the card.

My friend Chrisi said the saying looked like it was digitally added to the card. I guess it sort of does. In actuality, I stamped the saying onto the blue card and again on the heart. I then lined up the letters when I glued the heart onto the card.

On a random side note, I was reading an article today about two people getting married who have the same name. Some guy named Kelly Hildebrandt is marrying a woman named Kelly Hildebrandt. I find myself obsessing today about how odd that is. The weirdest thing they have discovered so far is that they can't figure out whose mail is whose. :)

IO DT Challenge- Christmas in July

Have you been following all the Impression Obsession sneak peeks this week? If you need a recap, you can find a complete list of cards on the Impression Obsession blog here.

For today's challenge, all of the IO designers are making Christmas themed cards. I know some of you are starting your holiday cards already, so I hope you are inspired.

My card incorporates another of the brand new backgrounds. Doesn't the gingham background look like patterned paper? I tell you, I am really loving these new stamps. I made the background by inking the gingham with dark green pigment ink and stamping it onto bright green paper. To make the rest of the card, I stamped the Christmas tree onto cream paper using green ink and then added some yellow-green Copic marker to the branches so they looked fuller. I added a little brown Prismacolor pencil to the trunk and branches so that they would be distinguished from the pine needles. As a finishing touch, I edged the branches and snow with some Pixie Dust Shimmerz. Here is a close-up:

Feeling in the holiday spirit? Check out what Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, Shirley, and Tina have created. Also, please visit guest designer Kathy Menzies and welcome her for her first IO challenge! Hint....one of the designers is even offering some blog candy.

Happy Holidays!

Impression Obsession Sneak Peek

I can't tell you how excited I am about the Impression Obsession CHA release! It is an enormous release filled with images from all of your favorite designers such as Alesa Baker, Leigh Hannan, Sarah Phelps, Melissa Gordon, and Gary Robertson. The snowman card I posted for the Shimmerz swap highlighted images from Alesa Baker. Today I am showing you cards using Leigh Hannan and Sarah Phelps designs.

The first card features a Leigh Hannan cat image that I colored with Copic Markers and some Pixie Dust Shimmerz. Here is a close up of the Shimmerz:

To finish the card, I added some Stardust pen to make stars and embossed the saying (Black Cats Prowl C5469) with silver powder.

For the second card, I stamped the Sarah Phelps cornucopia onto kraft paper and colored it with Copic markers. I thought the cornucopia worked well with the "May the Bounty" saying (D6043).
Can you see the burlap background on the card? I am so excited about the new Impression Obsession Cover a Card backgrounds! They are 5 3/4" x 5 3/4" cling mount images that fit over the entire front of a card and allow you to make your own background papers. I am actually bubbly over these new stamps. I know people get frustrated with large backgrounds because it is so hard to stamp the whole thing cleanly. Have you ever stamped a background and missed the center part of the image? Well, IO is now offering a "Mega Mount" acrylic block that rocks over the paper and allows you to get even pressure with your image. Fantastic! Look for other IO designers incorporating the backgrounds on their cards.

Deborah and Julie are also offering sneak peeks today, so be sure to visit their blogs. Also, Shirley is keeping track of this week's sneak peeks on Impression Obsession's blog, so you won't miss a thing!

Big Hero Arts Week

Hero Arts is having a big week this week celebrating their new website (which unveils on Wed), and they are offering double the prizes! Not only are they picking twice as many winners as usual, but they are doubling the price amounts. Woohoo! You can check out the information here.

Today I am posting a project I made for the Hero Arts challenge last week. The theme was "vacation." I decided I wanted to make something other than a card and dressed up some cheap flip flops for my next trip to VA Beach.

To make the flip flop toppers, I stamped a Hero Arts background stamp onto some shrink plastic using Staz On ink. I then punched out the background using a Marvy Mega Circle punch. Once I shrunk the plastic, I colored the circle with a blue Marvy Marker. I then punched out a peice of blank white shrink plastic using a Marvy Giga Scallop punch and shrunk it. Here is a close up of the topper so that you can see what it looked like when I attached the two pieces together:

I sealed the finished project so that my marker wouldn't run and attached the topper to the flip flop using a combination of glue dots and Diamond Glaze. Overall, it was a pretty quick and easy project. I made a few extra of the toppers because I think they are going to be really cute decorative buttons for cards.

Check back again tomorrow. Impression Obsession is starting a week of sneak peeks, and Tuesday is my day to post. There is also a Design Team challenge scheduled for Thursday which should be a lot of fun.

Until then...

Shimmerz for the Holidays

Today is the last day of the Impression Obsession/Shimmerz Design Team swaps. I hope you have been following the action, because the projects have been stunning. If you need a recap, you can check out the Impression Obsession blog or the Shimmerz blog. You won't want to miss all the great ideas!

For my contribution, I decided to make a card that paired a sneak peek of two new Impression Obsession stamps as well as some Sky Blue and Candle Light Shimmerz. For those of you who aren't familiar with Shimmerz, they pre-mixed water-based paints that are extremely irredescent. They add wonderful shimmer and sparkle to your projects. Here is a front view of my card....you can't see the Shimmerz.


Here is what the card looks like when the light is allowed to hit the Shimmerz:

I loved the way my snow and snowman, well....shimmered. I added the Sky Blue to the snow and snowman since snow tends to have a slight blue tint to it and added the Candle Light to my star. I shaded my snow with a Copic C1 pen and then added the paint directly over the shadow. I wanted the paint to gradually fade away so I used a waterbrush to drag the Shimmerz away from the locations where I had applied it to the paper. I didn't go crazy with the waterbrush though because I didn't want my paper to pill up. I loved that the Shimmerz allowed me to create areas that were softer as well as areas that had a lot more sparkle.

I will be posting more cards in the next few weeks that incorporate my new Shimmerz paints. I have some colors that are perfect for upcoming holidays. I have found that Coal and Apricot are perfect for Halloween and coloring cauldrons and pumpkins. Candle Light gives such a wonderful golden sheen to fall elements, and Pixie Dust is perfect to put on just about everything to create a "wow" factor.

Until then....

Photo Card

Last week's Hero Arts challenge was to incorporate photos into a card. I decided to make a photo card and then add a little bit of stamping as an accent. I thought it might be a good idea to put the photo into an acetate card so that it could also be removed later if the person wanted to keep the picture.

For this card, I took one of my Cherry Blossom Festival pictures and added some cherry blossom stamps, pearls, and a ribbon. Basically, it was a pretty easy card to make. Plus, I was happy I finally did something with one of the pictures I took.

On an unrelated note, I want to thank everyone who drove me around the last couple of days. I swear, you never feel more like a single person than when you have your car in the shop for a few days and have to schedule rides. You guys are the best!

O Happy Day

Did you know that Dave Brethauer, owner of Memory Box, started a new stamp company? It is called Poppystamps, and has whimsical animal and people images. I started my collection with "Petunia Petals." Isn't she sweet? For some reason, she just spoke to me.

To make the card, I stamped my image onto some of the new Lemonade Basic Grey paper and colored her with Prismacolor pencils. I then added a saying from Memory Box and layered everything onto more Basic Grey patterned paper and Memory Box cardstock.

Here is a close-up of the coloring:

If you would like to check out more of the Poppystamps collection, you can click on the blinkie below:

In other news, the Impression Obsession and Shimmerz design teams are teaming up for a fun week of stamping and shimmer. Each day there will be new samples (some of them are sneak peeks of the HUGE Impression Obsession Fall/Winter release) that will inspire you to incorporate Shimmerz paints into your work. Shirley will post the IO information each day on the IO blog and you can also follow the Shimmerz blog to see what they are creating. I can't wait! I have been playing with Shimmerz a lot lately, and they are wonderful! I will be posting my card on Friday, so be sure to check back then!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th everyone! I hope you all have something fun planned for today. My day involves a BBQ, so I thought today's card captured my plans pretty well. to make the card, I cut out letters and stars using my Cricut and then added some stamps from Memory Box. I have found that using a black gel pen on the grill really makes it look like metal.

For those of you in the DC area, have you been to Artomatic yet? I am really sad because it closes on Sunday. Artomatic is 9 floors of art and performance spaces and is really something to see! I especially liked visiting the Peeps dioramas from the annual Washington Post contest they hold each Easter. Here are some of my favorites:

Thelma and Louise


The Terracotta warriors:


Chinatown...notice the roasted Peeps hanging in the window. Perfect!

Man, people are creative!

Have a very happy 4th!

IO DT Challenge- Masculine Cards

For the current Impression Obsession design team challenge, we were asked to create masculine themed cards. I don't know how much my card fits that category because I colored the tiny fish in the boat to look like little Nemos. It sort of defeats the "manliness" of the card. To help counteract the Nemos, I added some of my favorite elements for guy cards.....dark blue paper, plaid paper, and cork.

To make the card, I stamped the sailboat (H2174) onto white cardstock using black Versafine ink. Because the stamp has a lot of small areas to color, I chose Prismacolor pencils over Copics to color my image. The life preserver and saying come from a clear set called "Sunshiny Day" (CL184). It has a lot of fun summer images that make nice embellishments. Here is a close up of the bottom of the card so you can see how I folded the paper with the saying to make it look like a banner:


I know many of you are always looking for ideas to make cards for men. I encourage you to check out what Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Kelli, and Shirley have created. As an added incentive, one of the designers is even offering some blog candy. Yeah!